JD Sports “back on track” after seasonal lift January 7, 2010 JD Sports Fashion said it was on track beat the City’s profit expectations for the year after enjoying a festive boost. Like-for-like sales rose 6.6 per per cent in the five weeks to January 6, driven by the performance of its fashion-focused chains Bank and Scotts, where trading rose 9.7 per cent. The group said [...]
BA and Unite in new talks January 7, 2010 BRITISH Airways will hold talks with union leaders representing cabin crew this week, in a bid to avoid potentially crippling industrial action. Unite is already balloting its members for a second strike after a planned 12-day action over the Christmas period was ruled illegal by a High Court judge. Discussions will revolve around planned changes [...]
WII SALES ROCKET January 7, 2010 STRONG Christmas sales for Nintendo’s Wii games console, revealed yesterday, helped allay fears that the popularity of the gadget has waned. Nintendo’s US Wii sales exceeded 3m units in December up sharply from 2.12m units a year earlier. Meanwhile, total sales of Nintendo’s handheld game player, the DS, have reached 40m units in Europe, making [...]
BA and Unite in new talks January 6, 2010 BRITISH Airways will hold talks with union leaders representing cabin crew this week, in a bid to avoid potentially crippling industrial action. Unite is already balloting its members for a second strike after a planned 12-day action over the Christmas period was ruled illegal by a High Court judge. Discussions will revolve around planned changes [...]
Murray and Robson edge Great Britain closer to Hopman final January 6, 2010 BRITAIN’S Andy Murray insists he will have enough practice before the Australian Open despite speeding to another victory in the Hopman Cup yesterday. Murray and 15-year-old Laura Robson took a step closer to the final as Great Britain beat Germany 2-1 in the group stage in Perth. The Scot needed just 57 minutes to win [...]
M&S sales rise but Waitrose wins day January 6, 2010 MARKS & Spencer yesterday reported a rise in sales for the three months to Christmas but warned of a tough year ahead. The retailer saw like-for-like sales rise by 0.8 per cent with record takings on food on 23 December. Food sales overall were 0.4 per cent up on the previous year with general merchandise [...]
Wine lovers cheer Majestic January 6, 2010 MAJESTIC Wine said its decision to half its minimum purchase to six bottles helped boost its pre-Christmas sales. The wine chain, which has 150 stores in the UK, said like-for-like sales were up 11.7 per cent in the nine weeks from 3 November. Majestic began selling six-bottle batches to customers in September as part of [...]
CARE HOME MOGUL GETS BOOST FROM REALITY TV January 6, 2010 A REALITY television appearance is usually more of a kiss of death than a gateway of opportunity, but the case of Balhousie Care Group chairman Tony Banks has proved an exception to the rule. Banks became a household name last year when he travelled to Liverpool on Channel 4’s Secret Millionaire programme and subsequently had [...]
Snow forces Eurostar to cancel trains January 6, 2010 EUROSTAR cancelled four trains yesterday due to bad weather and expects more problems just three weeks after powdery snow turned its rail link between Britain and France into a pre-Christmas undersea travel trap. Snowstorms sweeping across southern England and northern France brought road and rail chaos, with Eurostar warning travellers of the same problems that [...]
Business as usual in City as Britain grinds to halt January 6, 2010 FREEZING weather, heavy snow and iced-up roads may have given many Londoners the perfect excuse to avoid work yesterday but thankfully the City of London continued to function as normal with the minimum of disruptions. Insurer RSA yesterday estimated that a single day of severe weather could cost the London economy more than £145m as [...]