Seven-year-old girl asks Google for a job – and gets a reply from its boss February 16, 2017 In days gone by, parents might have held ambitions for their children to become doctors, lawyers or teachers. Nowadays, it's all about getting a foot in the door of one of the big tech firms. With competition for these roles being so fierce however, it takes an application with a difference to attract the notice [...]
Debenhams outed for not paying nearly 12,000 workers the national minimum wage February 15, 2017 Department store Debenhams has been outed for not paying its workers the national minimum and living wage. According to the department for business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS), Debenhams underpaid 11,858 workers by £134,895 in total. Read more: Why the UK is falling out of love with fashion Debenhams said a payroll error has caused the problem and [...]
Topshop logistics workers are going on strike February 15, 2017 Workers at a Topshop logistics centre are set to on strike over wages. Employees at sites in Solihull and Leeds have voted to walk out on 24 February and 26 February. The action comes after staff at the Solihull hub went on strike in the run up to Christmas. Read more: Flopshop: Arcadia Group brand Topshop's sales [...]
The number of days lost to industrial action soared by 89 per cent to 322,000 last year February 15, 2017 There were 322,000 working days lost to strike action in 2016, an increase of 89 per cent on the year before. According to official figures for the year ending December 2016 there were 322,000 days lost from 99 stoppages and 154,000 people took strike action. That compares to 170,000 days lost due to labour disputes in [...]
Workers at this City stalwart have been banned from drinking during the day February 14, 2017 Looks like it's going to be dry January all year long for the boozers at Lloyd's of London. City workers at the historic institution have been banned from drinking during the day because alcohol has caused so may disciplinary cases, according to the Evening Standard. Lloyd's, known for its world-class work in insurance, now has [...]
Consumer spending growth at four month low after Christmas boom February 13, 2017 Consumer spending growth slowed to 0.4 per cent on the year in January, putting it at a five month low according to Visa’s UK Consumer Spending Index. Following the Christmas shopping jump of 2.5 per cent in December, January proved sluggish and saw the fastest decline of face-to-face spending in four years (-3.1 per cent). [...]
All Star Lanes scores £3.5m strike after successful turnaround February 12, 2017 All Star Lanes has secured a £3.5m refinancing after a successful 2016 saw its underlying profits jump 39.5 per cent to £1.4m. The American-inspired ten-pin bowling chain has one branch in Manchester and four in London, including its recently reopened Brick Lane flagship location. Although the company was founded in 2006, it was only after [...]
Ocado chairman Stuart Rose bags £1.3m share award February 12, 2017 Online grocer Ocado gave its chairman Stuart Rose a £1.3m share award last year as part of a pay deal he agreed when he joined the company in 2013. When he was made Ocado chairman, former Marks and Spencer boss Rose bought £400,000 worth of Ocado stock. The company gave him 452,000 shares on the [...]
Greene King reveals sober sales despite gains over the Christmas period February 10, 2017 Sales at British pub operator Greene King grew over the 40 weeks to 5 February due to a strong Christmas period, but it was hit by a "dramatic" slowdown of sales in the quieter months. The figures In a trading statement today, Greene King said like-for-like sales grew 1.1 per cent over the period. For the [...]
Dry January wasn’t much of a draw this year as two-thirds opted not to bin the booze February 9, 2017 Despite the grumbling you may have heard, not everyone did Dry January last month. In fact, according to research into the late night economy from The Deltic Group, over two thirds of people didn't take part this year. That was though, still more than last year when 84 per cent didn't take part. The report of [...]