Let’s face it: Profiteering is feeding the inflation beast, not just pay rises April 4, 2023 Inflation is a pernicious beast that is plainly bad for people and businesses. It can ease governments’ debt burdens by (artificially) boosting tax revenues, but that can lead to severe bouts of price rises that, often, lead to societal decay. So it’s easy to see why policymakers in the UK are sweating over the rate [...]
John Lewis wins sneezing dragon High Court battle after judge dismisses author’s claim April 3, 2023 John Lewis has been found not to have infringed the copyright of a children’s author who claimed it had copied one of her designs in its Christmas advertisement. Fay Evans, 49, from Macclesfield, Cheshire claimed the department store had copied parts of her book ‘Fred The Fire-Sneezing Dragon’ in its ‘Excitable Edgar’ Christmas advert which [...]
Boots advantage card helps sales soar as shoppers sign up to bag beauty bargains March 28, 2023 Boots has reported a surge in sales as the high street chemist benefited from savvy shoppers keen to rack up points on its advantage card loyalty scheme. In the three months to 28 February 2023, the retailer’s sales increased 16 per cent as customers shrugged off the cost-of-living crisis to splash out on skincare and [...]
Cheers to that! Diageo chief quits after decade at the top, as firm appoints FTSE 100’s tenth woman CEO March 28, 2023 Spirit maker Diageo has announced its chief executive Sir Ivan Menezes is to retire following ten years leading the firm. The London-listed drinks giant will step aside from the firm’s board in June of this year and be replaced by Debra Crew, who is currently its chief operating officer. Meneze joined the firm from the [...]
Andrew Bailey: Our banks are sound – we’ll keep hiking if inflation persists March 27, 2023 The Bank of England will be forced to jack up interest rates again if incoming data shows inflation is not falling fast enough in response to the central bank’s eleven straight rate rises, Governor Andrew Bailey said today. Further pain will be needed to be borne by families and businesses if price pressures keep pinning [...]
L&G report: Inflation is widening gap between rich and poor with ‘pay cut’ for 95 per cent of UK households March 27, 2023 Legal & General’s Rebuilding Britain Index (RBI) found that 95 per cent of working UK households have experienced a real terms pay cut over the last 12-months as rising inflation makes its way felt into nearly all households. UK inflation has surpassed forecasts and stayed in the double digits and the rate of price increases [...]
The Notebook: Royal Mail, Succession and a fabulous rugby charity March 27, 2023 The Notebook is a home for musings and jottings on the Square Mile and beyond. Today, it’s Andy Silvester’s turn. ANOTHER day, another indication that Royal Mail’s future has got lost in the post. Only a fortnight after being referred to the regulator for “systemic letter delivery failures” – a task you’d probably describe as [...]
Sharp increase in retail sales amid ‘subdued’ outlook due to inflation – but is there a ‘chink of light’ with Easter holidays? March 24, 2023 British retail sales grew sharply last month compared to pre-pandemic levels, but price increases continue to deliver a “subdued” longer-term outlook. Sales volumes are thought to have increased by 1.2 per cent in February after a rise of 0.9 per cent in January, suggesting the industry is recovering from the pandemic well. Industry figures are [...]
WIN a ticket to the Crypto AM Spring Awakening event March 23, 2023 With just a week to go until the much-anticipated Crypto AM Spring Awakening event, we’re giving away 10 tickets to our exclusive gathering.
37 per cent of flights delayed last year – but London’s Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton airports not worst offenders March 22, 2023 More than a third of flights to and from UK airports last year were delayed, new figures show. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said an “unacceptable” 37 per cent of flights were at least 15 minutes late in 2022. That is up from 17 per cent in both of the preceding two years and 25 [...]