Mike Ashley’s Frasers bets big on brick-and-mortar with 1m sq ft of new shopping malls October 8, 2024 Mike Ashley-owned Frasers group has announced the acquisition of over one million square feet of retail space across three shopping centres in a huge new bet on physical retail. The shopping centres – in Exeter, Maistone and Gloucester – have a combined annual footfall of almost 17 million visitors and 1.015 million square feet. The [...]
No showstopper performance for The Great British Bake Off maker October 8, 2024 Turnover and profit at Love Productions, the maker of TV shows including The Great British Bake Off, both fell back during its latest financial year. The business has reported a turnover of £71.7m for 2023, down from the £79.3m it achieved in 2022. Newly-filed accounts with Companies House also show that its pre-tax profit also [...]
The dirty, dangerous and ‘obsessive’ world of mudlarking October 8, 2024 Once the domain of Victorian street urchins, the art of mudlarking has gone mainstream. Lucy Kenningham investigates
With Sue Gray gone, Keir Starmer will have no more excuses October 8, 2024 Sue Gray is carrying the can for the shortcomings and mistakes of her boss, says Henry Newman Morgan McSweeney is Keir Starmer’s second chief of staff following Sue Gray’s resignation. And we aren’t even 100 days into the new government. Some of his predecessors lasted far longer. David Cameron’s only chief of staff was there [...]
Why Georgia’s capital Tbilisi is the most fascinating city in Europe October 7, 2024 Towering over the Georgian capital of Tbilisi is Mtatsminda Park, a Soviet-era fairground and gardens set atop a craggy hill. Accessed by a funicular railway, you will find a host of terrifying, creaky old amusement rides, including the 65-metre-high Giant Wheel, which seems to bow outwards over the edge of a sheer cliff. Dotted around [...]
Elliott’s appeal over London Metal Exchange nickel shutdown dismissed October 7, 2024 A UK court has dismissed Elliott Investment Management bid to appeal a decision in the nickel case against the London Metal Exchange.
Is Rachel Reeves about to force pension funds to back Britain? October 7, 2024 The prospect of Rachel Reeves forcing pension funds to back British stocks is being discussed as a more serious possibility, writes Charlie Conchie As the City grandees Nicholas Lyons and Peter Harrison gathered a room of executives for a workshop at the London Stock Exchange last month, a familiar gripe was on the agenda. The [...]
It wasn’t supposed to be this way, was it? October 7, 2024 Kremlinology is an old Cold War concept referring to the study of key individuals high up in the Soviet government. Who was in favour, who hadn’t been seen in a while, who was winning power struggles and who had been shot; Western analysts devoured such intelligence in an effort to understand who was actually in [...]
Ex-cabinet secretary says £200,000 job is ‘massively underpaid’ October 6, 2024 Ex-cabinet secretary Gus O'Donnell has said the UK's most senior civil servant is "massively underpaid" at £200,000 per year.
Sue Gray resigns as Keir Starmer’s chief of staff October 6, 2024 Sue Gray has resigned as Keir Starmer’s chief of staff after a controversial three-month tenure, saying “intense commentary” around her position “risked becoming a distraction”.