Heathrow airport breaks Christmas passenger record January 13, 2020 Heathrow airport welcomed a record 80.9m passengers in 2019 to notch a ninth consecutive year of traffic growth, it revealed today. Larger and fuller aircraft pushed the passenger growth as Heathrow airport witnessed its busiest December ever, when 6.7m passengers travelled through the airport over Christmas and New Year, up 3.1 per cent compared to [...]
How to quit your job with royal grace like Harry and Meghan January 13, 2020 We can all sympathise with Harry and Meghan’s predicament. You take a nice long break over the Christmas period, perhaps squeeze in a few days abroad and enjoy some long walks at one with nature. The fresh air clears your head (or maybe it was that extra glass of prosecco?) and you realise that you’ve [...]
With its foray into facial recognition, Uber is normalising mass surveillance January 13, 2020 The news late last year that Uber plans to introduce facial recognition technology seems to have mostly escaped the notice of the public, buried as the story was beneath five or six paragraphs in most of the reports on the loss of the firm’s London licence. Or perhaps, as one depressing Wall Street Journal headline [...]
Joules shares plummet on profit warning January 10, 2020 Fashion retailer Joules warned profits will fall below expectations today after a challenging Christmas period, triggering a plunge in its shares. The company expects annual pre-tax profits to be “significantly” lower than a forecast £16.7m due to supply chain issues. Read more: Superdry warns profits could hit zero months after Dunkerton’s triumphant return Joules saw [...]
B&M share price tumbles on slow Christmas sales growth January 10, 2020 Discount chain B&M’s share price has fallen by more than eight per cent this morning after a trading update reported a challenging Christmas period. The company said like-for-like sales for the 12 weeks leading up to 28 December had increased by 0.3 per cent. Read more: Selfridges’ Christmas sales boosted byt vegan food and toys [...]
Selfridges’ Christmas sales boosted by vegan food and toys January 10, 2020 Selfridges enjoyed a five per cent growth in sales in the 24 days leading up to Christmas fueled by increasing demand for vegan food. The department store saw growth of 96 per cent in vegan confectionery sales, while a newly-launched vegan hamper sold out. Read more: Selfridges to open permanent cinema on Oxford Street The [...]
Ryanair’s €1bn profit upgrade lifts rival airlines’ shares January 10, 2020 Ryanair profit upgrade today on better-than-expected Christmas traffic has lifted competitors’ shares on the FTSE as well as its own. Ryanair’s stock rose 6.6 per cent to €16.23 as it raised full-year profit guidance to beyond €1bn (£850m) after saying Christmas and New Year bookings were “stronger than expected”. Read more: Ryanair’s ‘abusive’ hand luggage [...]
Superdry shares plunge as it warns profit could hit zero January 10, 2020 Superdry witnesses its stock plummet in early trading today after issuing a dramatic profit warning on the back of underwhelming sales over its peak Christmas trading period. The fashion retailer now expects underlying profit before tax to range up to £10m, but warned it could vanish altogether after booking “lower than anticipated” retail sales of [...]
Lidl sales grow 11 per cent over Christmas period January 10, 2020 Lidl UK saw an 11 per cent increase in sales over the Christmas period, outshining bigger supermarket rivals, its latest trading update revealed today. The German discount supermarket group said it was the fastest growing bricks and mortar supermarket over the four weeks ending 29 December. Read more: Lidl sales help it hit record stake [...]
This Veganuary, I’m trusting people to eat what they want January 10, 2020 Welcome to January, the month of new year’s resolutions. Dietary transformation has always been central to the post-Christmas madness — eating “better” is probably the most cliched resolution there is. But whereas this used to be framed primarily in terms of weight loss, with fads like intermittent fasting and protein shakes taking centre stage, in [...]