Tesco sees Christmas sales rise for fifth year in a row January 9, 2020 Tesco delivered its fifth consecutive Christmas period of growth last year, outperforming its competitors in a tough retail environment. The grocer’s UK and Ireland division, which includes its wholesale business Booker, increased like-for-like sales by 0.4 per cent in the 19 weeks to 4 January due to a strong operational performance and competitive deals. Read [...]
Brexit and election uncertainty knock hole in Robert Walters’ UK profit January 9, 2020 Robert Walters’ share price dropped today as it revealed a huge 23 per cent dent to UK profits as a result of a rollercoaster year of political uncertainty in 2019. UK gross profit fell from £26.8m in the fourth quarter of 2018 to £20.7m in the corresponding period last year. Read more: Time too short [...]
Boris Johnson’s election majority set to pass Brexit bill – but second phase challenges loom January 9, 2020 Boris Johnson’s Brexit bill is expected to pass its final stage in the Commons this afternoon, bringing to a close months of wrangling over the UK’s exit from the European Union. The Withdrawal Agreement Bill – which Theresa May spent over a year trying and failing to get backing for during her premiership – is [...]
Barry Gardiner expected to enter Labour leadership race January 9, 2020 Labour frontbencher Barry Gardiner is expected to throw his hat into the ring and join the race to succeed Jeremy Corbyn later today, in a sign that the left of the party is yet to back Rebecca Long Bailey. It is thought the shadow international trade security will make an announcement about his decision later [...]
City Hall needs a major shake-up if it is to deliver for London January 9, 2020 The immense challenges facing London are growing by the day, and meeting these requires not just a proactive national government but an effective administration at City Hall. The political power of the capital’s own local government is so often underestimated, but there can be no doubt that the mayor of London has the money and [...]
‘Worst year on record’ for retailers in 2019 January 9, 2020 Last year was the worst 12 months on record for UK retailers, as overall annual sales dipped for the first time since 1995, according to the latest data. Total sales in 2019 fell 0.1 per cent, marking the worst year for retailers since records began 25 years ago, due to a year of political uncertainty [...]
Deals fell to lowest volume in six years in 2019 January 9, 2020 Global deal making fell last year to its lowest levels since 2013. In 2019 there were 774 transactions valued at over $100m (£76m) completed worldwide, compared with 904 deals in 2018, and the lowest annual volume recorded since 2013 (720). Major deals last year included Marsh & McLennan’s £4.6bn acquisition of insurance broker Jardine Lloyd [...]
Downing Street signals an overhaul to Brexit talks ahead of trade phase January 8, 2020 Downing Street has signalled an overhaul to the way it will approach talks in the second phase of Brexit, the Prime Minister’s press secretary said today. In a further sign that talks under Boris Johnson’s team will be markedly different to those carried out in Theresa May’s tenure, the press secretary said Downing Street would [...]
On a roll: Greggs employees to get £7m bonus after ‘exceptional year’ January 8, 2020 Greggs has said it will give staff a special £7m bonus payment following a “phenomenal” year when the launch of its wildly popular vegan sausage roll helped bring in a higher than expected profit. In a trading update issued this morning, Greggs raised its profit forecast for the 12 months ending 28 December 2019, calling [...]
UK productivity creeps up but crisis continues January 8, 2020 The UK’s long-running struggle with productivity showed little sign of ending today when official figures revealed output per hour worked grew only marginally in the third quarter of 2019 following four successive quarters of falls. Productivity grew by 0.1 per cent in the July to September period of last year compared with the same period [...]