Guinness in focus as Diageo reveals latest trading February 2, 2025 Diageo is set to reveal how Guinness and its major spirit brands performed over the key Christmas period, after ruling out speculation it could sell the Irish stout brand. The London-based, drinks giant is expected to reveal another bumper performance by Guinness, which has been a key strong performer in recent years, becoming the UK’s [...]
Five policies the Chancellor hopes will fire up the economy January 31, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves committed to going "further and faster" on kickstarting economic growth.
John Lewis misses festive sales target as turnaround falters January 31, 2025 Sales at John Lewis are reported to have fallen short over the key Christmas trading period as middle-class Brits increasingly switch to shops like Marks and Spencer. According to reports from the Daily Telegraph, sales at Waitrose similarly missed targets. The employee-owned John Lewis Partnership (JLP) blamed “lower consumer confidence and weaker than expected market confidence” for [...]
Britain’s independent brewers hit record turnover as small firms flounder January 30, 2025 Turnover of the UK’s top 25 independent breweries hit a record high of £1.72bn in the last year although there was a higher rate of insolvencies for small brewers, according to new data. The figure was up nine per cent year on year, according to national accountancy group UHY Hacker Young. The record turnover was [...]
7 incredible places for food and wine in South Africa January 30, 2025 A culinary cruise around South Africa, with our restaurant columnist Martin Williams As a restaurateur, January is the perfect time of year to take a holiday; exhausted from the efforts put in to maximise Christmas business. As an entrepreneur with M, and whilst leading Gaucho, it’s a period when, after setting objectives for the months [...]
Andrew Bailey: ‘No trade-off’ between financial stability and growth January 29, 2025 Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, was giving evidence in the Treasury Select Committee.
Tesco to cut 400 jobs as it moves to ‘more efficient’ working January 29, 2025 Tesco has announced plans to cut more than 400 jobs in a bid to improve efficiency at the grocer, following in the footsteps of Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons. The supermarket giant said that the “more competitive than ever” market means it must “work hard… to offer our customers unrivalled value”. “This means always being open [...]
Crew Clothing plans to open at least 20 stores in 2025 January 29, 2025 Crew Clothing has revealed plans to open at least 20 stores across the UK this year. The fashion retailer announced its intention to expand further after the brand added 15 new locations over the course of 2024. That flurry of openings included a new store in Paddington, a move which marked the company’s return to [...]
‘Deregulation is essential’: Starmer vows to slash red tape in bid for growth January 29, 2025 Keir Starmer vowed to deregulate Britain and cut through “thickets of red tape” today as he tried to reboot his government’s handling of the economy following months of anaemic growth and criticism from business. In an article for the Times, the Prime Minister wrote “deregulation is essential” and warned investors were shunning the UK due [...]
Morrisons sales surge as customer loyalty pays off January 29, 2025 Eating into the market share of its rivals and growing its loyalty card scheme helped sales surge at supermarket giant Morrisons during its latest financial year. The Yorkshire-headquartered chain has reported a revenue of £15.2bn for the 12 months to 27 October, 2024, up from £14.7bn. Its group like-for-like sales also increased from 1.8 per [...]