Lidl to invest £1.3bn in UK store expansion February 20, 2020 Budget supermarket Lidl has announced it will invest £1.3bn in store expansion across the UK in the next two years. The German discounter – which has opened 50 new stores in the last 12 months – said this morning that it has committed to investing in growing its store portfolio in 2021 and 2020. The [...]
UK retail sales jump 1.6 per cent in January after Tory election victory February 20, 2020 UK retail sales excluding fuel jumped the most in almost two years in January, official figures showed today. Retail sales rose excluding fuel 1.6 per cent compared to the month before as the new year got underway, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. And retail volumes rose 0.9 per cent to recover from falls [...]
London Black Cab maker targets export market as it moves beyond e-taxi sales February 19, 2020 The company behind the new generation of black cabs is planning to move beyond its core product. London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC) will launch a new electric van later this year to diversity its product base. The company, owned by China’s Geely group, is best known for producing London’s electric black cabs. LEVC boss Joerg [...]
All Beales stores set for closure as no buyer found February 18, 2020 Department store chain Beales is preparing to shutter all of its stores after administrators were unable to find a buyer for the business, putting hundreds of jobs at risk. KPMG said it will “continue discussions with a number of interested parties for a sale of the business as a going concern” but has begun preparing [...]
Asda sales slump due to ‘cautious’ Christmas shoppers February 18, 2020 Asda sales slumped over the crucial festive trading period due to “cautious” consumer spending, as shoppers reined in their Christmas lists. The supermarket giant said like-for-like sales excluding petrol dropped 1.3 per cent in the three months to the end of December. The sales drop was driven by “challenging market conditions”, particularly in Asda’s clothing [...]
Angling Direct blames bad weather for disappointing performance February 18, 2020 Despite strong growth and expansion in the last year, bad winter weather have dented Angling Direct’s profits. The figures Angling Direct have announced a 41.3 per cent increase in in-store sales to £27.9m, and expects to report revenue of £53.1m. Online sales grew 13.3 per cent to £25.2m as Angling Direct focused more on its [...]
Chelsea v Manchester United: Blues’ poor home form under threat from big-match specialists in top-four showdown February 16, 2020 While this season’s Premier League title race is now non-existent, the battle to finish in the top four is still very much on. Everyone from Chelsea in fourth to Arsenal in 10th will have aspirations of finishing in the final Champions League spot, while Manchester City’s prospective European ban has given even more teams hope. [...]
Scrap the TV licence, the BBC should just stick to the national news February 15, 2020 It is good that the BBC model is being disrupted by social media — allowing isolated individuals threatened by brown envelopes and sinister demands to be united in their opposition to the multi-billion pound media enterprise. Essentially, the broadcaster needs to be radically stripped down to just one channel: BBC News and Weather. All other [...]
Horse Racing Betting Tips: Copperhead set to strike in soft ground Reynoldstown February 13, 2020 WHAT better way to prepare for Cheltenham than with a slog over three miles on soft ground at Ascot? While most Festival hopefuls have had their final run before March, tomorrow’s Sodexo Reynoldstown Novices’ Chase (1.50pm) is a valuable race that’s attracted a handful of high class horses. Pym’s latest run, a decisive eight-length win [...]
Prime Minister in spotlight over five-figure freebie holiday February 13, 2020 The Prime Minister is coming under pressure over who gifted him a five-figure holiday to the Caribbean island of Mustique after Christmas. Yesterday Boris Johnson declared that his stay in a villa with his partner Carrie Symonds was a £15,000 gift from businessman David Ross. On the latest Commons register of interests, the ‘benefit in [...]