River Island ‘positive’ about future despite £30m losses October 10, 2024 High street retailer River Island has slipped into the red with a £30m loss before tax as it struggles to hold up against online competition and rising costs. The company reported a loss before tax of £32.3m in 2023, down from profit of £7.5m in 2022, according to newly-filed accounts with Companies House. Turnover fell [...]
Labour’s arrogance is disrespectful to business October 10, 2024 When it emerged that Boris Johnson reportedly muttered “f**K business” during a meeting as Prime Minister, he was rightly castigated. For many people it marked an emphatic break in the relationship between government and the private sector. We might not be able to point to any similarly totemic moment in Keir Starmer’s first three months [...]
Why a businessman (or woman) should run the civil service October 10, 2024 Keir Starmer has reshuffled his top team, but he has still one appointment left to make: cabinet secretary. He should hire someone from outside the Whitehall machine to drive better performance across the public sector, says Andrew Haldenby If Keir Starmer wants a government that works and a productive economy, he needs to do more [...]
Can Rachel Reeves get us excited about investing? October 10, 2024 If Rachel Reeves is serious about the need for greater investment, she needs to tell a story about why it’s more important than day-to-day spending, says James Nation When was the last time you heard about Labour’s ‘missions’? What is their overriding governing thought or story? Homing in on a message and then sticking to [...]
Gareth Southgate set to speak at Starmer’s flagship investment summit October 9, 2024 Gareth Southgate and the boss of Aviva will be among the headline speakers at the government’s global investment summit next week as Keir Starmer looks to flaunt the country in front of international financiers. In a programme outlining the schedule, sent to attendees this evening, the government said sessions would cover the new government’s “vision [...]
Delays to investment minister appointment ‘totally ridiculous’, says former holder October 9, 2024 The government’s failure to appoint an investment minister nearly 100 days after taking power is “totally ridiculous”, the former holder of the office has said, as ministers scramble to finalise plans for their landmark investment summit next week. The Global Investment Summit, taking place in London on Monday, had been planned this year as a [...]
Why Panama is an undiscovered wonder for nature lovers October 9, 2024 I spot a cayman a couple of metres away on the umber riverbank. It is as still as a park bench, its jaws wide open. I’m not describing a Porsche Cayman with its bonnet up awaiting a recovery truck, I’m talking about a crocodile with a hungry look in its eyes. It surveys me with [...]
KPMG and Natwest put the CBI back in business October 9, 2024 Companies renew their memberships to CBI offering hope for the firm's continuation
The Notebook: Less of the doom please. Business is spooked! October 9, 2024 Business optimism is plunging and no wonder. With all the doom and gloom, has Labour forgotten its mission of growth? Asks Kiki McDonough
McLaren W1: A ‘once in a generation’ hybrid hypercar October 8, 2024 When the opening gambit is ‘a successor to the McLaren F1 and P1’ – two of the greatest supercars in history – you know what follows will be something special. Or it certainly needs to be. The McLaren W1 does not disappoint. Welcome to the inner sanctum of a futuristic, semi-subterranean factory in Woking: home [...]