M&S staff to get £80m bonus pot after sales rise April 8, 2010 MARKS & SPENCER sales rose by 5.1 percent in the 13 weeks to 27. The hike was driven by sales of formalwear and knitwear and the figures outstripped analysts’ forecasts of a 1.7 per cent rise M&S said full-year pre-tax profit would be around £630m, in its trading statement. The first day of the Christmas [...]
MODELLING LEAVES METRO BOSS RED-FACED April 5, 2010 MOST of the management over at shiny-new high street lender Metro Bank might be patting themselves on the back over their latest marketing ruse, a giant mascot for the bank, but some of the poor staffers have been left red-faced. The new mascot – an enormous foamy “M” in blue and red, the bank’s colours [...]
Topps Tiles sees revenues dip March 31, 2010 BRITISH retailer Topps Tiles posted a second-quarter fall in underlying sales, blaming a dip in confidence as the general election nears and consumers brace themselves for tax rises and job cuts. “If I cast my mind back to previous elections, they’ve never done us any favours that’s for sure,” Matt Williams, chief executive of the [...]
HMV looks to live music to boost fortunes March 26, 2010 HMV is pinning its growth hopes on live music as it forges ahead with a restructuring of the business. In a strategy update the firm pledged a turnaround of its Waterstone’s bookstores which traded poorly over Christmas, and said it would maintain the current level of dividend. HMV said that its transformation into an entertainment [...]
Ted Baker results receive a boost from Xmas trade March 25, 2010 FASHION retailer Ted Baker yesterday reported an almost ten per cent hike in annual profits. The UK firm saw pre-tax profits of £19.5m for the year until 30 January. That was up from £17.8m in the previous 12 months. Sales across Ted Baker businesses went up by 15.4 per cent to £136.5m. Founder and chief [...]
TWO?MBA?ENTREPRENEURS March 24, 2010 OLGA NEFEDOVA Having worked as a senior drilling engineer for oilfield services giant Schlumberger for four years, and then for Mitsubishi Steel Trading, Olga Nefedova took a full-time MBA at Warwick Business School in 2008-2009. She now combines a customer services manager role at Schlumberger with running an online gallery selling Russian art, the Kohgan [...]
BA and Unite disagree over strike figures March 22, 2010 BRITISH AIRWAYS and cabin crew union Unite continued to stand their ground yesterday, even as a three day strike drew to an end. BA said it was still open to talks with Unite but that there were no immediate plans to go back into negotiations over plans to cut the pay and staff numbers of cabin [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS March 22, 2010 NEXT BNP Paribas Wealth Management has maintained its “neutral” stance on clothing retailer Next, ahead of the company’s full year results expected out on Thursday. BNP said that Next reported an upbeat Christmas trading period in January but the harsh weather at the start of the year could take the shine off the numbers. RANDALL [...]
Currys owner says turnaround on track March 19, 2010 CURRYS and PC World owner DSG International has said its turnaround plan is on target. The company pledged to deliver better profits and that its programme of revamping stores was on schedule, in a trading update. It will now accelerate the roll-out of its Megastore and 2-in-1 – combined Currys and PC World – stores. [...]
Imperial a decent tip to finish in top three March 18, 2010 WE’VE had the thriller in Manila and the rumble in the jungle. Now it’s the War of the Wolds. Kauto v Denman III isn’t going to be quite the classic decider we have all wanted since the Tank and AP had that difference of opinion the first time they stepped out together at Newbury. Kauto [...]