John Lewis just had the biggest week in its trading history with nearly £200m in sales thanks to Black Friday November 29, 2016 The jury may be out on the winner of the Christmas ad battle, but John Lewis has other reasons for festive cheer. The retailer has just revealed sales of £199.8m, up 6.5 per cent year-on-year, for the week up to 26 November. Spurred on by Black Friday and its price matching efforts on the "Never [...]
Richmond, Islington and Bromley residents are among the least generous with charitable donations November 29, 2016 As the season of giving approaches, what better time to explore which of the capital's residents are set to be promoted to the top of Father Christmas' nice list? A study of over 18,000 London donations by The Big Give found that some of London's most deprived boroughs demonstrated some of the highest levels of generosity. The boroughs which [...]
Merlin Entertainments reports strong Halloween period and says it’s on track to meet profit expectations in 2016 November 29, 2016 Alton Towers owner Merlin Entertainments said it's on track to grow profits and meet expectations for this year, in a trading update published this morning. The leisure group said its theme parks operating group "enjoyed a strong Halloween period", which was helped by good weather. In its midway attractions operating group, underlying trading has remained consistent with [...]
Shoppers spent over £2bn using Visa cards on Black Friday November 29, 2016 UK shoppers spent more than £2bn using Visa cards on Black Friday this year. The figure was up 13 per cent on last year's, and half of the spend was made online. Visa said that there has also been a strong uptake in contactless payments, across all age groups. Among those aged between 55 and [...]
International consortium pipes up with offer for National Grid’s £11bn-valued gas network in time for final bids deadline November 28, 2016 An international consortium today tabled an offer for a majority stake in the National Grid’s £11bn-plus-valued gas distribution network, with the final bidding round now closed. The Grid is aiming to agree a deal for the 51 per cent stake before Christmas and wants to complete the sale in the first quarter of next year. [...]
Forget John Lewis – Wes Anderson has done a Christmas ad for H&M and people are going crazy about it November 28, 2016 Bow down, John Lewis, your ad has been well and truly trumped by this festive treat from H&M. Read more: Heartwarming and full of plot holes: Our review of John Lewis' Christmas ad The Swedish retailer has gone the extra mile and enlisted genius filmmaker Wes Anderson for its ad, titled "Come Together". Anderson has created [...]
Post Office workers are set to strike over pensions on the busiest day for international Christmas post November 28, 2016 About 720 managers will walk out of Post Offices over pension disputes on the busiest day for international post. The 24-hour strike, set for Saturday, 3 December, is the third instance of industrial action in a long-running pension dispute. The workers are members of Unite, the country's largest union, who join the Communication Workers Union (CWU) to target 300 [...]
Here are the best Cyber Monday deals November 28, 2016 If you've been trying to bag a bargain on all your Christmas gifts over Black Weekend, but you haven't got everything you need quite yet, don't worry. There's still time: it's Cyber Monday. According to Nationwide, its customers have spent over £15.3m on Cyber Monday deals between midnight and 9am alone. During that period, more [...]
Portobello Road Gin is opening the UK’s first gin restaurant, hotel and distilling experience November 28, 2016 Portobello Road Gin is capitalising on the UK's "ginaissance" by opening an all-in-one gin-themed restaurant, bar, hotel, museum, distillery and off-licence shop. The venue, called The Distillery, is the first of its kind in the UK. The ground floor features a bar stocked with gin and a range of other spirits created on-site and abroad. The spirits verge on the experimental [...]
Southern rail drivers vote to strike in run up to Christmas November 28, 2016 Southern rail drivers have voted in favour of further industrial action over the Christmas period as part of a long-running dispute over driver-only trains – meaning commuters could be facing up to 18 days of strikes in December and January. Members of the RMT union who work on Southern trains have already voted to strike on [...]