Watch: John Lewis Christmas advert 2014 video – say hello to #montythepenguin November 6, 2014 It’s not Christmas until John Lewis starts filling our screens with nostalgia – and this year, it hasn’t disappointed. Serenaded by Tom Odell's cover of John Lennon's Real Love, a boy, Sam, realises his best friend, Monty the CGI penguin, is lonely. We won’t spoil the ending… The ad’s themes for 2014? Childhood, [...]
John Lewis Xmas ad is the full monty… November 5, 2014 It’s the advertising moment of the year – retailer John Lewis launches its Christmas advertising campaign this morning, in anticipation of its first TV airing tomorrow night before Channel 4’s Goggle Box. The ad, by agency Adam & Eve DDB, revolves around a penguin called Monty and a little boy called Sam and is set [...]
Marks & Spencer sees food sales spark share price rally November 5, 2014 Marks and Spencer shocked markets yesterday with unexpectedly strong sales, driven by its food business and – until the warm weather in September hit sales – robust clothes results. Investors had been worried that the group would follow Next and Tesco with poor results, but instead flooded back into the stock. The share [...]
M&S boss Marc Bolland puts the focus on womenswear and a five gold rings chocolate Christmas cake November 5, 2014 Everyone knows Marc Bolland is a bit of a charmer. The M&S chief has been under pressure all year with disappointing clothes sales and a finance chief who decided every little really did help and hopped over to Tesco. But yesterday, at the retailer’s half-year results event, the suave Dutchman came out fighting, with compliments. [...]
Fresh food price drop set to help Christmas budgets go further November 4, 2014 Prices in shops continued to drop in October, with food inflation reaching a record low. Figures released today for the shop price index compiled by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and market analysts Nielsen show that shop prices fell by 1.9 per cent year-on-year in October. Food inflation fell to 0.1 per cent, the lowest [...]
UK retailers expect bumper Christmas: John Lewis advert announced and Fortnum & Mason seasonal window revealed November 3, 2014 Nearly three quarters of UK retailers (70 per cent) believe this Christmas will bring better trading than last year due to an improving economy and following a healthy year of trading. Read: A short history of John Lewis' Christmas ad success The figures compare favourably to the 52 per cent of retailers [...]
High-end firms gather for Walpole British Luxury Awards at the V&A November 3, 2014 Model Jodie Kidd led the fashion pack last night as some of the stars of the British luxury industry slipped into their finest and trotted over to the V&A for the annual Walpole British Luxury Awards. The crowd was certainly eclectic; chef Marcus Wareing was there, along with Olympic rower Sir Matthew Pinsent, ex-footballer Sol [...]
Christmas top 5 November 3, 2014 Book ahead to avoid yule tide disappointment HYPER JAPAN CHRISTMAS MARKET Get the perfect Christmas present for the Japanophile in your life at the Hyper Japan Christmas Market. Following a successful exhibition earlier this year, the market will bring all things Japan to Kensington’s Olympia once again from 14 to 16 November. Adult tickets are [...]
Selfridges’ record high profits of £150m boosted by international delivery and UK click and collect services November 3, 2014 Selfridges yesterday announced record profit of £150m for last year, boosted by the launch of its international delivery service. The quintessentially English department store chain, which has just revealed its storybook themed window displays for Christmas, said sales were £1.2bn for the year to the end of January, up 10.4 per cent on the previous [...]
Football Comment: Wins keep wolves from City and Spurs door November 2, 2014 WINS are vital to the top clubs and when you go a couple of games without a victory then it’s a crisis so Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini and Tottenham counterpart Mauricio Pochettino will have slept more easily last night having bagged the points as the pressure can mount. Who wants to get the pressure, [...]