Slow start for Christmas sales season December 17, 2009 The Christmas shopping season has got off to a slow start, with retailers reporting a fall in sales volumes in November, dampening hopes of a bumper festive period on the high street. Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that retail sales volumes unexpectedly fell by 0.3 per cent in November. Department stores [...]
JJB cautious on Christmas as sales drop December 17, 2009 JJB Sports has reported a 52 per cent plunge in sales in the 20 weeks to 13 December, with the Christmas season failing to reverse its fortunes. The struggling sports retailer has been trying to stage a fight back after it came close to going into administration earlier in the year. But the latest gloomy [...]
WHAT TO ENJOY THIS CHRISTMAS FILMS, MUSIC, GAMES December 17, 2009 FILM NINE Daniel Day-Lewis leads Chicago director Rob Marshall’s star-studded tribute to Italian cinema. NOWHERE BOY Former YBA Sam Taylor-Wood’s biopic of John Lennon’s early years. DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE MORGANS? Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker rom com. Nuff said. DVD IN THE LOOP Malcolm Tucker takes on the White House in the [...]
Getting to the BOTTOM of ladies’ underwear December 17, 2009 You know the feeling. It’s two days before Christmas and there is a creeping sense of dread threatening to ruin your festive spirit. So far seasonal cheer has extended to quaffing too many glasses of strong lager and trying not to abuse your boss at the office party. But now there’s no more putting off [...]
Wounded Castres are here on a Euro revenge mission December 17, 2009 KICKING INTO TOUCH WITH BRENDAN VENTER THE good news was our performance and result at Castres last weekend has left us on the verge of qualifying for the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup. The bad news is we have to do it all again tomorrow night. Toulon’s 70-point mauling of Rovigo means we will probably [...]
Q&A: RENTING December 17, 2009 Russell Hunt MANAGING DIRECTOR, PROPERTY HUNT Q.We’ve been putting off upscaling to a bigger family home, but don’t want to wait much longer. When should we move? AIt’s probably a mistake to wait too long and over-predict the market. If you look back to the first quarter of 2009 there were lots of good deals [...]
Save the Big Buck’s for Bellvano and Dave’s Dream at Ascot today December 17, 2009 PAUL NICHOLLS continued his extraordinary run of Saturday big race wins by landing last weekend’s Boylesports.com Gold Cup at Cheltenham and the Champion trainer will hope that Big Buck’s can make it a ‘famous five’ tomorrow. Kauto Star, Denman, Twist Magic and Poquelin have all grabbed the racing headlines on consecutive Saturdays for Team Ditcheat [...]
Retail sales fall dampens hopes of festive boost December 17, 2009 The Christmas shopping season has got off to a slow start, with retailers reporting a fall in sales volumes in November, dampening hopes of a bumper festive period on the high street. Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that retail sales volumes unexpectedly fell by 0.3 per cent in November. Department stores [...]
JJB sales plunge 52% in “difficult” trading December 17, 2009 JJB sports has reported a 52 per cent plunge in sales in the past six months, with the Christmas season failing to reverse its fortunes. The struggling sports retailer has been trying to stage a fight back after it came close to going into administration earlier in the year. But the latest gloomy figures have [...]
BA in fresh talks with its unions December 16, 2009 BRITISH Airways (BA) will find out today whether its bid to block a devastating 12-day Christmas strike in the courts has been successful. The decision comes after the airline reopened talks with its unions yesterday, following the admission by Unite boss Derek Simpson that the length of the strike was “over the top”. Bruce Carr [...]