London property prices: Here’s how many houses have sold for £1m in the last five years – and where is seeing the biggest growth November 5, 2015 Here's a million-dollar question for you: how many £1m-houses does London have, and which boroughs are seeing the fastest growth? Over the past decade, nearly 54,000 £1m (or more) homes have been sold – and Kensington & Chelsea accounts for more than 10,000 – almost a fifth of the total. But this borough appears to be slowing – perhaps as [...]
SuperGroup sales up 22.4 per cent – but chief executive Euan Sutherland warns over Christmas November 5, 2015 SuperDry parent company SuperGroup has reported a strong first half, but warned that Christmas could be a challenge with strong comparatives to beat. The figures The business has performed well in the first half to 24 October, with sales up 22.4 per cent across the group. The retail division drove much of the growth, up 30.9 per [...]
Morrisons third quarter results: Sales fall again but chief executive David Potts remains upbeat November 5, 2015 Sales continue to fall at troubled supermarket Morrisons – but the new team headed by David Potts are putting a brave face on the turnaround process. The figures In the 13 weeks to 1 November, total sales excluding fuel were down two per cent, while like-for-like sales dropped 2.6 per cent. The supermarket, which is at the beginning of [...]
City A.M. shadow MPC votes 6-3 in favour of holding interest rates at current level November 5, 2015 City economists who enjoy poring over Bank of England data (we know who you are) will think Christmas has come early today, as Threadneedle Street publishes its latest interest rates decision, minutes from the meeting, and its quarterly inflation report. Dubbed “Super Thursday”, the hat-trick of releases should give a stronger indication of how the [...]
Marks & Spencer dividend can’t hide fashion disaster as Next and Primark steal market share November 5, 2015 It's that time of year again. The nights are drawing in, the heating’s turned up, minor celebrities are switching on high street Christmas lights… and Marks & Spencer has revealed another disappointing half-year performance. Admittedly, shares rose yesterday – up 2.8 per cent – but this was more due to a modest improvement to margins and a [...]
Christmas adverts 2015: Here are some of the best spots so far from Lidl, Asda, TK Maxx, PayPal and Mulberry November 4, 2015 We're just a few days into November but the clash of Christmas retailer ads has already begun, with a plethora of festive spots being released in the last couple of days. Watch: The 2015 John Lewis Christmas advert finally released The biggies are yet to drop – most notably John Lewis, which is artfully building [...]
Christmas adverts are great, but retailers including John Lewis, Asda and Lidl must live up to the hype November 4, 2015 You could feel the anticipation earlier this week as the first of the Christmas adverts landed. Asda and Lidl were among the first to showcase their festive offerings, while John Lewis announced its ad launch in advance, giving the nation several days to get excited before the big reveal, which happens at 8am this Friday. Watch: [...]
Black Friday 2015: Why UK shoppers are missing out the best deals from Amazon, John Lewis, Tesco and other retailers – bargains aren’t just for Christmas November 4, 2015 Last year on Black Friday, UK shoppers spent an astonishing £562,500 per minute online. It was a year which saw Boxing Day, which is traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year, toppled off its perch for the first time in seven years due to the remarkable success of Black Friday. This wasn’t, however, the [...]
Christmas 2015: These are the must-have toys your children are going to demand this year November 4, 2015 With less than two months go until Christmas Day, the list all parents are clamouring to get their hands on has been released – these are the top 12 toys for 2015. And while many of the must-have presents have a distinctly modern theme, there's also a retro undercurrent, with three of the top spots being taken [...]
Shop prices drop for 30th month in a row as competition heats up ahead of Christmas November 4, 2015 UK shop prices fell in October for the 30th month in a row, dragged down by low commodity prices and fierce competition among retailers ahead of the crucial Christmas period. Prices fell by 1.8 per cent on the year, figures for the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Nielsen show, which was a slight slowdown on [...]