Ikea sales hit a record €34.2bn in the year to August 2016 as company’s focus on food pays off September 13, 2016 The world just can't get enough of meatballs and flatpack furniture – and it's reflected in record sales at Ikea, which the company attributed largely to its focus on food in the last year. The Swedish group's total sales rose to €34.2bn (£28.8bn) in the 12 months to the end of August, from €31.9bn the year before. Total sales [...]
Paws for thought: Should you be allowed pets in your office? September 13, 2016 How would you feel about a colleague bringing their pet to your workplace? Maybe you’re having a ruff time, feline a bit down, and a furry friend would brighten up your day. Perhaps a yapping mutt would be a cat-astrophic distraction, leaving you fur-ious by the end of the day. Following Brexit, last week our politicians [...]
Here’s how much of your pay goes on commuting September 12, 2016 Thought you were angry about your commute already? Brace yourself… Cancellations and delays, leaves on the track or too much heat, the increasing cost of tickets and jam-packed sardine tin-like trains – there's already such an array of choice when it comes to commuting complaints. Here's another one to add to the list. A tenth of your [...]
You can book a holiday with some Portuguese Water Dogs, and it’s amazing September 9, 2016 Most men I know who holiday in Portugal go for the golf. Quite a few ladies too. The Algarve boasts some of the lushest courses in the world. Sadly not all players are Rory McIlroy standard. There is a lake here on the scenic links at Quinta do Lago where one thousand balls are fished [...]
Takeaway.com eyes imminent IPO on Euronext stock exchange after snapping up Just Eat’s Benelux operations September 6, 2016 The Netherlands’ largest restaurant delivery site Takeaway.com will seek to list on Amsterdam’s Euronext stock exchange in the next few weeks, the company announced today. Although previously active in the UK, earlier this summer Takeaway offloaded its entire British operations to Just Eat for an undisclosed sum, before snapping up Just Eat’s Benelux arm for €22.5m [...]
The Maserati GranTurismo isn’t without its problems, but learn how to treat it and this Italian beast is one hell of a drive September 6, 2016 I got a few weird looks unloading my soiled wellies from the back of a Maserati as I checked into Monaco’s Hermitage Hotel. Where on earth had I been, the valet must have thought. Some 48 hours earlier I was ankle deep in what Uncle Monty would have described as “beastly mud and oomska” at [...]
Mondelez International takes out sweet £1m insurance policy for one of its chocolate tasting-scientists September 6, 2016 Mondelez International has taken niche insurance to a whole new level after it insured the taste buds of one of its chocolate scientists for £1m with Lloyd's of London. Hayleigh Curtis works as part of Cadbury's innovation team at Mondelez's Global Centre of Chocolate Excellence, based in Bournville, the birthplace of Cadbury chocolate. The specialist chocolate team [...]
Adverts selection: OpenX’s Tim Cadogan and John Murphy on why ad exchanges are a market for lemons and how to improve the quality of traffic September 5, 2016 In the eyes of OpenX, advertising has – or had – a distinctly economic problem. For brands and publishers which trade advertising space programmatically over ad exchanges, information asymmetry and adverse selection are all too common. “It's like a market for lemons”, says John Murphy, vice president of marketplace quality, referencing the famous 1970 paper [...]
Heading to Dublin? Here’s how to get the most out of your trip September 2, 2016 As an Irishman living in London, it’s vitally important to maintain links with the motherland by annually submerging myself in the grand culture of my people, before returning to London fresh and thrumming with renewed Celtic energy. Today, I will share with you my meticulously curated itinerary. How to get there: Fly Aer Lingus, of course. [...]
Pension or property: Which is the better option for your retirement? August 31, 2016 The Bank of England’s chief economist Andy Haldane drew ire from the pensions industry for the second time this year, when he claimed that property was a better investment option for retirement than a pension in an interview with The Sunday Times this weekend. “It ought to be pensions but it’s almost certainly property,” Haldane said. [...]