One million retail jobs at risk from rising wages and tax costs, warns British Retail Consortium February 29, 2016 One million retail jobs could disappear in the next decade as high street shops across the country struggle to cope with drastic changes in shopping habits and rising costs. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has warned that government policies including the new national living wage, the apprenticeship levy and rising business rates will add as much as £14bn [...]
Retailers John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Home Retail Group, Kingfisher and John Lewis top list of offenders in late supplier payments February 29, 2016 Britain's five largest high street retailers were late in paying a shocking 80 per cent of their invoices to suppliers last year, a report today has revealed. MarketInvoice, a peer-to-peer platform for selling invoices online, has found that late payments to suppliers rocketed last year, with high street retailers John Lewis, Boots, Home Retail Group, Marks & [...]
EU referendum: Asda, HSBC, Vodafone and nearly 200 sign letter saying Brexit would threaten jobs – but Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s are not on the list February 23, 2016 The bosses of HSBC, BT, Vodafone and Asda are among those to have put their name to an open letter backing the remain camp and Prime Minister David Cameron's reforms in Europe. More than a third of the UK's biggest companies were represented in the letter, which was published in The Times this morning, saying they represented [...]
FTSE 100 index still volatile as days two of the European Council summit in Brussels looms – but Coca-Cola’s share price fizzes February 19, 2016 The FTSE 100 index opened with volatility this morning after having fallen below 6,000 mark yesterday as investors continued to look to Brussels The UK's blue chip index was trading 0.09 per cent down at 5,970 points in the early morning, having risen to 5,987 points as the market opened. "Having stalled on Thursday after large gains the [...]
Mobile World Congress 2016: Google’s guide to getting your business noticed on smartphone February 19, 2016 On Monday, marketers will flock to Barcelona for the annual Mobile World Congress – four days of presentations, networking and plenty of sangria. But what most will be looking for is how to convince prospective customers to engage with their brand on the most intimate device we own. Smartphones have become so ingrained in our lives that for [...]
Tesco will stop selling curvey croissants in favour of straight ones because Brits have trouble spreading them with jam and butter February 18, 2016 Prepare to say au revoir to curvy croissants. The delicious pastry will no longer be sold at Tesco in its traditional form because apparently us Brits find it just too much of a faff. Such a hassle is the croissant curve that demand for them has fallen as we settle for the straight version instead, and [...]
Asda sales fall again after Walmart-owned supermarket suffers one of its toughest years yet February 18, 2016 Asda has reported its sixth consecutive quarter of decline, after what the supermarket chain described as one its the toughest years yet. Like-for-like sales slumped by 5.8 per cent in the 13 weeks to 1 January, its fourth financial quarter, taking full-year sales down by 4.7 per cent. This was an acceleration on the third [...]
Tesco extends its financial support for dairy farmers until April February 15, 2016 Tesco is extending its financial support for dairy farmers through to spring, in the face of cold weather and "uncertain times" in the sector. Originally the winter supplement was scheduled to run until the end of February, but it has rolled its financial assistance out until 17 April "to help [farmers] cover their production costs". Commercial director [...]
Here’s why mums go to Iceland: Supermarket beats Tesco, Asda and Morrisons to be named the best online retailer in consumer survey, and boss Malcolm Walker is clearly pleased February 15, 2016 Iceland, favourite of mothers across the nation and anybody else looking for decently priced party snacks they can stock in their freezer, has been voted the UK's best online supermarket. The league table released today by Which? gives Iceland an impressive overall customer satisfaction score of 77 per cent, ranking it above Waitrose, Ocado and [...]
What are your chances of a payrise? Pay growth expectations fall to their lowest point for more than two years thanks to rocketing costs of employing staff, including minimum wage rises February 15, 2016 Businesses believe wages will rise at the lowest rate for more than two years as rising costs of employing staff place pressure on pay packets, according to a report out today. The study by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) discovered that companies expect pay for their employees to rise by an average [...]