Selfridges’ new chief faces an uphill battle August 13, 2024 Selfridges’ new CEO, André Maeder, has his work cut out for him. The company has managed to survive the gruelling pandemic years – largely by cutting jobs and moving online – a tough cost-of-living crisis and an acquisition in 2022. But seasoned retailer Maeder, who was officially announced two weeks ago and starts in November, [...]
Work from home culture may damage the future of sport branding August 13, 2024 Has the phenomenon of working from home damaged the way sports brands can reach their audiences? Joe Langsworthy investigates. Sport in 2024 has never been more accessible. Yet watching our favourite pastimes live in stadiums, arenas and other venues remains out of reach to millions. Recently, Sir Lewis Hamilton condemned the rising prices of tickets [...]
John Lewis to make redundancies as major store changes announced August 13, 2024 Department store giant John Lewis is to cut more than 150 jobs as it unveiled a major restructuring plan to its partners. The company is to reduce its headcount by 153 roles, about one per cent of its current workforce, which it hopes to achieve by natural attrition and voluntary redundancies. The news was first [...]
Asda continues to lose market share while grocery inflation rises for first time since March 2023 August 13, 2024 Asda and the Co-op have continued to lose market share while a rise in grocery inflation has led to overall sales increasing significantly for Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Lidl. Take-home sales at the grocers rose by 3.8 per cent in the four weeks to August 4, 2024, compared with the same period a year ago, according [...]
Bonus cap: Bankers and nurses both work hard, but you shouldn’t compare their pay August 13, 2024 As UK banks start scrapping the bonus cap, Emma Revell argues why this is a good thing – and what the NHS could learn from it People hate bankers almost as much as they love the NHS. So unsurprisingly, the return of big bonuses to City pay packets is not without controversy. In what may [...]
S&U: Motor finance lender urges Labour to change ‘restrictive’ regulation after profit warning August 12, 2024 Specialist lender S&U has urged the new Labour government to change the UK's "restrictive and constantly changing" regulatory regime after warning that actions by the City watchdog would have a "significant impact" on its motor finance business' profits.
Inside Asda’s turnaround plan to win back customers from supermarket rivals August 9, 2024 It’s a difficult time to be at Asda’s helm – with sales down as well as competitors eating into its market share, the supermarket giant has announced an ambitious three-point turnaround plan to stave off further declines. Without a permanent CEO – the position has been empty since 2021 and filled on an interim basis [...]
‘Utter madness!’: 7 of the best Edinburgh Fringe shows to book now August 9, 2024 “Spectacular and unhinged” are two words rarely seen together in theatre reviews, except for at the Edinburgh Fringe, where the most brilliantly eccentric ideas get space to breathe. Here are the best shows to catch at the Edinburgh Fringe, and helpfully, we’ve only reviewed performances with London transfers so if you aren’t going to Scotland [...]
London pub group handed lifeline after administration and closure woes August 6, 2024 A London pub company that partly collapsed into administration earlier this year and closed a number of sites has agreed a £61m deal.
Biggest UK lenders including Natwest, Lloyds and Nationwide could fail safely in a crisis, Bank of England says August 6, 2024 The Bank of England has said any major UK lender could be safely wound down in a crisis without causing disruption to banking services or forcing a taxpayer bailout.