Superdrug profits soar 71 per cent as budget beauty buys boost sales July 12, 2023 Superdrug has reported a surge in profits in its full year results thanks to a jump in sales of its own-brand products on top of strong Christmas trading. The medicine-to-beauty seller recorded pre-tax profits of £77.8m, up 71.1 per cent compared to the same period the previous year, as the retailer welcomed its first full [...]
Interview: Businesses need to get their ‘pound of flesh’ from home workers, says Addison Lee chief July 12, 2023 “We are a real barometer for the London economy,” Liam Griffin, the boss of Addison Lee, says as we chat in the firms’ Paddington offices. The private hire taxi firm has been a stalwart of London for nearly 45 years now, ferrying customers through the boom of the early 2000s, the financial crash of 2008 [...]
Train union boss threatens 10 or 20 years of strife: ‘We’ll keep taking action until someone listens’ July 3, 2023 The boss of the train drivers’ union has threatened further industrial action, ahead of another week of disruption on the railways – which is set to impact Wimbledon too. Rail passengers have been warned of disruption across six days between Monday and Saturday, as the Aslef Union, headed by Mick Whelan, initiates a nationwide ban [...]
Crucial low draw can ensure Yip’s Fire leads punters to a Sha Tin Ball July 2, 2023 WITH only a handful of fixtures remaining before the end of the Hong Kong season, and connections in the territory desperate to get a win before their horses earn a welcome summer break, it may be worth looking beyond the obvious for potential winners. Former champion trainer Dennis Yip has had a season to forget [...]
Moonpig sales boosted by higher prices despite pre-tax profit dip after Royal Mail strikes June 29, 2023 Moonpig Group has revealed a jump in sales as it upped the prices of its greetings cards, but said consumers were buying fewer cards and sending cheaper gifts. The online greetings cards and gifts giant saw its profits decline as it notched up higher costs. It reported a 5.2 per cent increase in its group [...]
Mark Kleinman on banks, Ocado and London’s IPO market June 29, 2023 Mark Kleinman is City editor at Sky News Politics could push ministers to punish banks This is a cost of living crisis, not a banking crisis: if I had a fiver for every time a senior bank executive had said that to me over the last 18 months, I’d never need another mortgage of my [...]
Boots to shut 300 UK stores despite stronger sales June 28, 2023 Boots has said it will shut 300 of its stores across Britain over the next year. The historic retailer revealed the raft of closures despite posting stronger sales over the latest quarter. The move, which it said will impact stores in close proximity to other sites, will reduce its store estate from 2,200 to 1,900 [...]
Own-brand buys and No7 skincare boosts sales for Boots June 27, 2023 Boots has revealed a surge in online shoppers and people opting for own-brand labels has driven up sales over the latest quarter. The pharmacy and retail chain said its own ranges have been flying off the shelves as consumers hunt down value. It came as its US owner, Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), revealed its net [...]
Rishi Sunak pleads with Brits to ‘hold our nerve’ in face of sky high interest rates and inflation June 26, 2023 Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has urged the country to “hold our nerve” with sky high interest rates in order to beat down scorching inflation. Sunak today on BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme gave his full backing the Bank of England’s latest interest rate rise as Tory backbenchers slammed Governor Andrew Bailey for being “asleep [...]
Sadiq Khan says Shaun Bailey should lose peerage over ‘Jingle & Mingle’ video June 22, 2023 Sadiq Khan has said his former mayoral rival Shaun Bailey should not receive his peerage after a video of staff dancing and drinking at a Christmas party during Covid-19 emerged. The mayor of London described the footage of staff, who joked about bending the rules in the video filmed at CCHQ on 14 December 2020 [...]