Restaurants and bars get their appetite back following Rugby World Cup 2015 boost October 26, 2015 The Rugby World Cup and greater consumer spending power thanks to falling food and petrol prices provided a much needed boost to UK bars and restaurants during the third quarter of the year. According to Begbies Traynor’s latest Red Flag update, which monitors the health of UK companies, the number of restaurants and bars experiencing “significant” [...]
Hyde in Greater Manchester to get Europe’s biggest floating solar farm on the town’s Godley reservoir thanks to United Utilities October 26, 2015 Water company United Utilities is installing Europe's largest floating solar power system on a reservoir in Greater Manchester, as the company tries to reduce energy costs. The 12,000 panel, £3.5m project will be the UK's largest solar power site, dwarfing an 800-panel structure in Berkshire. It's also the second biggest floating solar farm in the world after a [...]
Sign of the times? Majestic Wine abandons six bottle minimum purchase October 26, 2015 Is this a sign of how bad things have really become for food and drink retailers? Majestic Wine, the middle classes' favourite mass booze retailer, has just ditched one of its main rules – namely, that all customers are required to buy a minimum of six bottles. Gasp. In a statement today, the company said [...]
US luxury firm Coach to move into Jaeger’s flagship on Regent Street October 26, 2015 AMERICAN luxury goods group Coach is moving into Jaeger’s Regent Street flagship as the retailer packs its bags after more than 80 years on the site. Jaeger and the Crown Estate, which owns the freehold to the 200-206 Regent Street store, have agreed to sell the lease to Coach, which will relocate from its smaller [...]
A lack of lorry drivers threatens Christmas 2015 online deliveries October 25, 2015 Christmas is under threat from a lack of lorry drivers. Shops could be left with empty shelves while online deliveries face delays due to a shortage of tens of thousands of lorry drivers, it has been warned. "We are short of between 45,000 and 50,000 drivers and the situation is getting worse," chief executive of the Road Haulage Association (RHA) [...]
Hello, Adele’s new single has broken Vevo records: Here’s what people (and Lionel Richie) are saying about it October 25, 2015 Adele's latest single Hello was viewed 25m in one day, and since being released on Thursday has racked up an impressive 52.9m views. To put this in context, Taylor Swift's Bad Blood broke Vevo records when it clocked up 20.1m views in 24 hours back in May. Nicki Minaj's Anaconda was the previous record-holder, since August 2014 when [...]
Post-iPhone 6s and 6s Plus launch: What to expect from Apple’s fourth quarter – earnings could send Nasdaq 100 to new high October 25, 2015 Apple is expected to get a nice earnings boost in the fourth quarter from the debut of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus in September. Here's what to expect on Tuesday. The figures Earnings per share for the three months to the end of September are expected to come in at around the $1.87/$1.88 mark, up on [...]
September retail sales smash economist expectations paving the way for a record UK Black Friday 2015 October 22, 2015 There was good news for the high street after retail sales surged in September, boosted by the late August bank holiday weekend and beer sales related to the Rugby World Cup. Retail sales volumes jumped by 1.9 per cent on the month, smashing economist expectations of a 0.3 per cent rise, the Office for National [...]
Christmas day 2015 is looking more and more likely to be a white Christmas as bookies slash their odds October 22, 2015 Everybody dreams of a white Christmas, don’t they? This year, it’s become far more probable that’s what the UK is going to get. The Met Office says “for most parts of the UK, Christmas is right at the beginning of the period when it’s likely to snow. Looking at climate history, wintry weather is more likely [...]
Black Friday 2015 UK deals: What retailers can expect from the biggest shopping day of the year October 22, 2015 Black Friday is now big news in the UK. Last year according to Barclaycard, more was spent on Black Friday than on any day of last year’s shopping season, making it the biggest spending day on record. Black Friday this year is likely to herald a similar frenzy and signals a change in customer shopping [...]