British businesses most optimistic in over a year but London firms sweat over inflation June 30, 2023 British business optimism has climbed to its highest level in over a year despite consumers retreating in response to rising prices and the Bank of England’s aggressive interest rate rises, a survey out today reveals. UK business confidence climbed nine points to 37 per cent in June, taking it up to its highest level since [...]
Inside Wimbledon’s first ever official off-court fashion range June 29, 2023 “There are worse places to work,” jokes David Hewitt, Wimbledon’s head of retail. We’re on Zoom and behind Hewitt’s head there is a smart grid of green rectangles, the outside courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club that are primed and ready for play, days away from the start of the 2023 [...]
FTSE 100 close: Tumbling pound boosts London index as Ocado slides June 28, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 sprang higher today, aided by the pound clocking a dreadful day. The capital’s premier index jumped 0.52 per cent to 7,500.50 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, leapt 1.98 per cent to 18,412.81 points. Early advances in the City [...]
Brands in London “suffering”: Fresh calls to scrap ‘tourist tax’ amid Mulberry losses June 28, 2023 Fresh calls have been made to reinstate VAT-free shopping for international tourists, after the chief of Mulberry warned its profits have been hit hard by it as they ditch London for Paris and Milan. Pre-tax profit at the British handbag maker fell to £13.2m in the year to April, down from £21.3m the prior year. [...]
Mulberry profit takes a hit as luxury brand invests in global expansion June 28, 2023 Mulberry’s pretax profit slumped in the year, despite an uptick in revenue, as increasing costs weighed on performance. In the year to April, the luxury handbag maker reported an underlying profit of £2.5m, down from £14.6m last year. On a reported basis its pretax profit was £13.2m, which took into account impairment reversals on some [...]
London fintech Upp. pockets $10m as it eyes global expansion June 27, 2023 London-based fintech Upp. has secured $10m (£7.8m) in seed funding as its artificial intelligence and machine learning model wins over investors. The startup, which uses AI to automate online retail, has garnered support in a funding round spearheaded by Californian venture capital firm Bonfire Ventures. Mark Mullen, co-founder of Bonfire Ventures, said Upp. is “the [...]
FTSE 100 close: Asia stock surge lifts London index as Wise soars 16 per cent June 27, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 regained ground today, taking its lead from a decent overnight session in Asia that was aided by Chinese lawmakers signalling economic support measures are on the way. The capital’s premier index jumped 0.11 per cent to 7,461.47 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health [...]
Jeremy Hunt to sign ‘milestone’ financial services agreement with EU June 27, 2023 Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will today sign a long-awaited deal with the European Union on improving regulatory cooperation for financial services, in a move that Hunt said will boost the City as a “global financial services hub”. Hunt and EU financial services commissioner Mairead McGuinness will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the European Commission [...]
Supermarkets behaving badly: Asda and Morrisons bosses back ‘transparent’ fuel pricing model June 27, 2023 Supermarkets bosses have been grilled by MPs on prices at the pump and agreed to consider entering into a fuel model which would give more transparency. The government has been mulling a scheme whereby petrol stations would have to share live prices in efforts to bring more price transparency for drivers – a similar system [...]
Fintech firm CAB Payments eyes £850m price tag in rare London IPO June 27, 2023 Fintech firm CAB Payments has revealed it will look to fetch a price tag of more than £850m next month when it floats in London in a much-anticipated IPO.