Fears of a nightmare before Christmas for UK retailers as footfall and spending dip November 13, 2017 Retail analysts fear a nightmare before Christmas for British shops as figures published today show weakness ahead of the crucial holiday spending spree. Footfall in UK retailers fell by two per cent year-on-year in October, according to figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Springboard. The decline in the number of shop visits was [...]
Alibaba: Sales during online retail bonanza Singles’ Day hit new record as they smash $25bn mark November 11, 2017 Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has said its Singles’ Day sales hit $25.4bn (£19.2bn), smashing its own record from last year. The shopping bonanza’s sales surged past last year’s total just after midday local time, hitting a record $18bn (£13.6bn). Singles’ Day, held every year on 11 November, is the world’s biggest online shopping event that [...]
Christmas shopping: Argos opens new fulfilment centres in Reading and Birmingham in time for Christmas rush November 3, 2017 Argos has opened two new regional fulfilment centres, boosting its online capacity ahead of the hectic Christmas shopping season. The centres in Birmingham and Reading will add 200,000 square feet of space for products offered on Argos’ next-day and same-day delivery services. Read more: Sainsbury’s suits up: Supermarket to sell smart mens clothes The new [...]
Growth returns to the UK fashion industry after 14 months of decline October 20, 2017 The British fashion market has returned to growth after 14 months of decline and heavy discounting by retailers. In the year to 24 September, the fashion market grew by 0.2 per cent, according to figures released today by Kantar Worldpanel. Figures from the Office for National Statistics, published yesterday, showed clothing and footwear sales jumped [...]
Black Monday 30 years on: how big was the crash and how fast did markets recover? October 17, 2017 On 19 October 1987 global stock markets came crashing down amid worries about a slowing global economy and high stock valuations. The concerns were compounded by a computer glitch. In the space of 24 hours stock markets in Asia, Europe and the US suffered falls of up to 23%. It was the biggest crash in [...]
Dong Energy is changing its name to Orsted to reflect its focus on green energy October 2, 2017 Dong Energy today announced plans to change its name to Orsted as the company shifts its focus to renewable energy. The firm said the name Dong Energy, which stood for Danish Oil and Natural Gas, was no longer suitable after it completed the sale of its entire oil and gas business to chemicals group Ineos [...]
Europe’s rudest-sounding energy company is being renamed – to reflect its focus on green energy October 2, 2017 Dong Energy today announced plans to change its name to Orsted as the company shifts its focus to renewable energy. The firm said the name Dong Energy, which stood for Danish Oil and Natural Gas, was no longer suitable after it completed the sale of its entire oil and gas business to chemicals group Ineoson [...]
From Red Flag Laws to the Uber ban, transport has always been a battle of innovation vs. precaution | City A.M. September 26, 2017 Last Friday, Transport for London (TfL) informed Uber that it would not be issued a private hire operator licence after its current licence expires on 30 September 2017. Only a few days before, Taxify, the Didi-backed car-booking app that is seeking to rival Uber, had been forced to halt operations in London for breaking rules [...]
Fitness advice: Why building a “cheat day” into your regime could be bad news for your waistline September 12, 2017 If you’re one of the millions of people trying unsuccessfully to lose fat, your problem could boil down to two little words: cheat day. A “cheat day”, or “cheat meal” as it’s sometimes called, is where people on a training program allow themselves a period where they can eat whatever they want. Being healthy [...]
Dress-down Friday? Dress-down every day. The City of London is becoming more casual, with bowler hats out and designer stubble in September 8, 2017 Goodbye bowler hats, brollies and polished black shoes – hello dress-down Fridays, jazzy colours and designer stubble. Dress codes appear to be falling out of fashion in the City of London. Around two-thirds of financial services employees will be allowed to travel into work in casualwear for dress-down Friday today, the results of a new [...]