Final reel for Blockbuster December 12, 2013 BLOCKBUSTER’S remaining 91 stores are to be shuttered before Christmas with the loss of 800 jobs, the chain’s administrators confirmed yesterday. Moorfields Corporate Recovery said all remaining stock will be sold by Sunday 15 December with discounts of up to 90 per cent before store are finally shut for good the following day, bringing an [...]
Moss Bros sales smarten up as eveningwear season kicks-off December 12, 2013 SUIT-seller Moss Bross enjoyed a bounceback in hire sales in the first weeks of the second half as it recovered from a subdued wedding season in the first part of the year. Like-for-like sales rose 5.3 per cent in the first 19 weeks to 7 December, the retailer said yesterday, as hire sales stabilised and [...]
A Christmas prayer for City slickers… December 12, 2013 Avid readers of The Capitalist might remember the Fiscal Cliff economist rock song we brought to your attention during the summer. Well, the man behind the anthem, Peter Cook (ex-MBA tutor and friend of musical economist and former MPC member Andrew Sentance) is back, and this time he’s given his rockenomics treatment to the Lord’s [...]
Win talk from South Pole team December 12, 2013 PRINCE Harry and his team are due to arrive at the South Pole this afternoon having braved the Antarctic extremes to raise money for Walking With The Wounded. But the push to support ex-servicemen and women doesn’t end there. The charity is calling for City workers to do their bit by signing up to Walking [...]
The Long View: Three reads for Christmas: Glamour, Cicero’s web and high-tech fiction December 12, 2013 I WROTE at the end of November that the rise of the selfie marked the death of the audience and the rise of an age committed to universal self-expression and performance. This week, even world leaders have been joining in. When David Cameron and Barack Obama were caught taking silly pictures of themselves at Nelson [...]
Zara Spanish owner Inditex says global expansion plans on track December 11, 2013 ZARA owner Inditex, the world’s largest clothing retailer, showed signs of leaving behind months of tepid sales growth yesterday as a budding European recovery boosted pre-Christmas trading and it said global expansion plans remained on track. Inditex, which also operates brands including teen label Bershka and upmarket Massimo Dutti, has struggled this year to match [...]
Gherkin is back on the menu for street food December 11, 2013 STREET food has evolved from a proliferation of greasy chip vans to the height of gourmet cuisine in a relatively short space of time in the UK. But strict bylaws banning street trading in many parts of the City of London, mean us City folk often miss out on the gourmet grub. But KERB, which [...]
Balls casts Commons vote wearing his Santa suit.. December 11, 2013 WHEN we said last week there was a new Red Ed in town, we really didn’t expect Ed Balls to take it so seriously, but it looks like the shadow chancellor is relishing his new moniker – and giving it a festive slant. It seems Balls turned up to the Commons kids Christmas party dressed [...]
Our pick of the launch-day titles December 11, 2013 Forza 5 The sixth title in the Forza Motorsport franchise has been released exclusively for Xbox One. It uses the new graphics engine to create a highly-realistic driving experience. Forza 4’s world tour tracks are replaced with levels divided into categories such as compact sports cars and track toys. Dead Rising 3 Dead Rising is [...]
Brand Index: Squeezed middle still unconvinced by economic upturn December 10, 2013 THE CHANCELLOR’S Autumn Statement, made last Thursday, was hailed in many quarters as a good day for George Osborne and for the government. But when we conducted an online focus group of people from the so-called “squeezed middle”, we found they are not yet feeling the benefits of growth. The picture they painted of their [...]