Christmas wasn’t so bad for Thorntons after all, with retail sales up in the second quarter January 19, 2015 The figures Shares in chocolate retailer Thorntons opened almost two per cent higher after it posted figures showing like-for-like retail sales went up by five per cent in the second quarter of 2014 – a turnaround from the 3.7 per cent decline in its first quarter. In the 14 weeks to 10 January, the [...]
LiteBulb Group’s Simon McGivern and James Phillips talk Mary Berry, cashpoint encounters and woodwork January 18, 2015 It's not every day that you bump into an old friend at a cash machine in Fulham and end up hatching a business – but then Simon McGivern and James Phillips, the founders of LiteBulb Group, are not your average pair. They went to school together (although they didn’t know each other very well) and [...]
Rouble rout stops Russian tourists spending in the UK January 18, 2015 Russia's economic quagmire is affecting the spending habits of Russians tourists in the UK, with total spending plunging 28 per cent last year according to research by tax experts Global Blue. Amid global sanctions over the Crisis in Ukraine, and a glut in the supply of oil leading to tumbling prices, thing went from bad [...]
Beagle 2 on Mars: Five things you should know about the mission everyone thought had failed January 16, 2015 WHAT IS BEAGLE 2? Beagle2 is a European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft that was sent to Mars on Christmas Day 11 years ago. The purpose of the UK-led project was to search for signs of life on the red planet, but a lack of communication from the space craft led researchers to believe that [...]
JD Sports share price soars with retailer predicting big profits January 16, 2015 The Christmas season may already feel like a distant memory for most, but at JD Sports the festivities are still in full swing. The UK sports retailer’s share price soared seven per cent in early morning trading after the company increased its profit guidance for the year. JD Sports told investors to expect [...]
HMV beats Amazon and reclaims top spot as Britain’s biggest retailer of physical music January 16, 2015 HMV is making a comeback on the high street, reclaiming the top spot as the UK's biggest seller of physical music, with vinyl sales soaring to their highest in over 20 years. Total sales climbed to £365.7m in the year to December, up from £311.2m from the same period the previous year. Like-for-like CD sales [...]
Mothercare CEO Mark Newton-Jones on not going into sale pre-Christmas January 15, 2015 The Christmas trading season was something of quick-draw for retailers, after firing off a raft of promotions to boost sales that culminated in Black Friday – the UK’s biggest ever shopping day. Yet those that do not get caught in the crossfire of promotional activity can have the upper hand, according to Mothercare CEO Mark [...]
Black Friday consumer finance demand boosts Arbuthnot Bank January 15, 2015 CONFIDENT consumers boosted growth at Arbuthnot Banking Group in the fourth quarter, spurring extra lending in its Secure Trust Bank (STB). STB’s loan book grew “materially” to more than £600m, with retail and automotive finance leading the expansion. Black Friday – the day of mass retail discounts before Christmas – saw a 1,300 per cent increase in [...]
Restaurants toast strong festive sales January 15, 2015 PUB AND restaurant groups had a reason to cheer this Christmas after like-for-like sales surged 2.8 per cent in the six weeks to 3 January compared with last year. London led the charge, with underlying sales up 4.4 per cent, according to the Coffer Peach Business Tracker out yesterday.
Argos owner warns of Black Friday blues January 15, 2015 THE CHIEF executive of Home Retail Group warned yesterday against the risk of chasing sales over Black Friday week at the expense of profit after the Argos owner reported weaker-than-expected results for the festive period. John Walden said it had decided to take a much more cautious approach to discounting in the run-up to Christmas [...]