Fred Perry issues bumper pay day as sales pass milestone August 22, 2024 British sporting and fashion brand Fred Perry has paid out a bumper dividend after its sales jumped past the £150m mark during its latest financial year. Founded by Wimbledon champion Fred Perry in 1952, the company has issued £90m in dividends for 2023 after its turnover totalled £154.1m for the year. The figure comes after [...]
Puregym poaches Punch Pubs boss as new chief August 21, 2024 Puregym has poached the chief executive of Punch Pubs & Co as its new boss. Clive Chesser will succeed Humphrey Cobbold, who will become Puregym’s new chair. Chesser and Cobbold are expected to take on their new roles on 6 November. In a separate announcement, Punch Pubs & Co confirmed that its chief operating officer, [...]
Samsung UK: TVs boost profit despite smartphones losing ground August 20, 2024 The rise in popularly in premium TVs helped Samsung’s UK profit surge during its latest financial year despite the electronics giant losing ground in the smartphones market. The UK arm of Samsung has reported a pre-tax profit of £135.3m for 2023, up from £126.8m, thanks to it boosting its market share in high-end televisions. The [...]
H&T: Profit jumps due to ‘ongoing constraint in the supply’ of short-term loans August 20, 2024 The UK’s largest pawnbroker and short-term loan business, H&T, announced a double-digit profit jump in the first half of the year as Brits showed no sign of reining in loan demand. Profit before tax was £9.9m in the six months to 30th June, up 12.5 per cent from the £8.8m reported in the same period [...]
Olympics and Euros fuel spike in pub and bar spending August 19, 2024 Sporting events such as the 2024 Euros and Olympics led to an increase in spending across Britain’s bars and pubs, new data has revealed. Individual spending at bars and pubs rose by 11 per cent compared to last summer as Brits flocked to their local boozers to take in the summer of sport. The number [...]
Watchdog says ‘all options’ should be on table to save universities August 18, 2024 The university watchdog has declared “all options” should be on the table to fix the struggling sector, warning the “golden age of higher education” could be over. Office for Students (OFS) interim chair David Behan said increased tuition fees and lifting visa restrictions on international students could help revive embattled institutions. He told The Sunday [...]
Crisis in Bangladesh shows that draconian regimes are always doomed to fail August 16, 2024 Repressive governments don’t just brutalise their people, they impoverish them too, writes Will Cooling
UK confidence in financial inclusion plummets despite strengthening economy August 15, 2024 People in the UK are feeling significantly less financially included than they used to be, City A.M. can reveal, as the pressure of the cost of living crisis continues to weigh on the public . The proportion of people who say they feel financially included in the UK has dropped to only 56 per cent [...]
One in three delay buying new home as high costs and interest rates bite August 14, 2024 The saga of first-time buyers trying to get on the UK housing ladder is long and well documented. High interest rates, rising costs and rents which swallow up more than a third of wages – in some parts of the country – have meant that around one in three people have delayed their purchase of [...]
Bowling and gyms the surprise winner as Brits look for affordable fun in sporting summer August 14, 2024 The cost-of-living crisis may have started to tail off slightly, but it hasn’t gone away completely, as Brits chose affordable attractions during the summer. Amusement parks, aquariums and gyms topped the list of activities as school break got into full swing during a bumper summer for sport, according to data from Revolut, which tracked the [...]