20 December On this day… December 19, 2013 ENGLAND’S Ashes cricketers still spend Christmas away from home, but today’s professional rugby players do not have that worry, unlike their counterparts in the amateur days. Australia, South Africa and New Zealand would normally arrive in Britain in October and head for home in January after the traditional Barbarians match. Despite the sunshine, this Wales-Australia [...]
Totalize can pay for the turkey December 19, 2013 THE Ladbroke (3.35pm) is the big betting race this side of Christmas and the rain has come at the perfect time for Brian Ellison’s TOTALIZE. The son of Authorized loves a deep surface and he has been the main market mover all week – his odds plummeting from 25/1 to the current 8/1 with Coral. [...]
Exclusive: It’s a miracle – Netflix releases Christmas Eve viewing figures December 19, 2013 It’s a minor Christmas miracle: Netflix has released some viewing figures. Sort of. The online TV service, notoriously quiet about its subscriber base or their viewing habits, issued a press release this morning about Britain’s festive telly plans. The release, from an external PR agency, contains statistical insights including “a quarter of us (23%) Brits… [...]
Suffering department stores temper retail sales growth in November December 19, 2013 Consumers' appetites for spending increased slightly in November as the UK high street saw growth again. Retail sales picked up 0.3 per cent in November, in line with expectations and following October's disappointing 0.9 per cent drop. Figures released by the Office for National Statistics showed that, year-on-year, sales were up two per cent from [...]
British retailers rebound ahead of festive rush December 18, 2013 THE RETAIL sector regained momentum at the beginning of December after a disappointing performance in the two previous months, according to new data, giving hope of a last-minute sales push ahead of Christmas. Grocers, department stores and clothing shops, which had seen sales fall in the year to November, saw sales rebound strongly in the [...]
Analysts cut forecasts amid fears discounts will hurt profits December 18, 2013 MARKS & SPENCER and a raft of other major high street names were hit by downgrades from analysts yesterday amid fears that discounting and low wage growth will take its toll on spending this Christmas. HSBC and Oriel both slashed their forecasts for M&S yesterday, warning that weak consumer confidence and further promotional activity was [...]
City’s Christmas parties have lost their sparkle December 18, 2013 NO ONE could deny Christmas is in full swing – drunken revellers are falling out of pubs in festive onesies, the Tube has a whiff of Baileys, and Boots has all but sold out of Alka-Seltzer. But for the City, Christmas isn’t the same as it used to be – extravagance is outlawed and the parties, [...]
Government is making high streets suffer and the situation may worsen December 18, 2013 WHATEVER the chances of a last-minute Christmas shopping spree, the retail climate remains difficult. To assist troubled high streets, the chancellor’s Autumn Statement appeared to make a valiant effort to address complaints about business rates, long resented as an excessive tax burden on retailers. For the first time ever, the uniform business rate rise will [...]
Knits the season to be jolly December 18, 2013 Here’s our pick of the classiest Christmas jumpers this winter For Him: Polo Ralph Lauren reindeer jumper £255, ralphlauren.co.ukThis cosy cotton blend should ward off chilly breezes. It also features a Nordic-inspired intarsia-knit design. For Her: Lucille snowflake intarsia jumper £390, harveynichols.comUS women’s brand Alice & Olivia is behind this Scandinavian design, made in a [...]