AJ Bell profit rises a third as firm completes record year December 5, 2019 AJ Bell’s first year as a publicly listed company was the most profitable ever for the broker and online trader, with profit rising nearly a third. Read more: AJ Bell reports growth in customers and assets under administration The figures Revenue at the investment platform rose 17 per cent in the year, up to £104.9m [...]
Black Friday 2019: Sales up in November after discount event December 3, 2019 Retail sales increased last month thanks to a bumper Black Friday, as shoppers made the most of the pre-Christmas discounting event. November sales figures – adjusted for Black Friday, which fell outside of the British Retail Consortium’s standard recording period – showed 0.9 per cent growth compared to last year. Read more: Black Friday spending [...]
Spanish retail billionaire zeroes in on £600m London building deal December 2, 2019 A Spanish retail billionaire who owns fashion chain Zara is close to acquiring a West End office block for £600m. Amancia Ortega, via his real estate investment vehicle Pontegadea, is set to acquire The Post Building a 320,000 sq ft development in an ex-Royal Mail sorting office on Museum Street in Holborn. A deal is [...]
Unions protest outside Amazon’s London HQ on Cyber Monday December 2, 2019 Union members demonstrated outside Amazon’s London headquarters this morning and accused the e-commerce giant of failing to pay the correct amount of corporation tax. The GMB union estimated that the retailer should have paid £103m in corporation tax last year, but claims the company’s biggest UK arm paid £14m of tax on £2.3bn worth of [...]
Ted Baker share price sinks into acquisition territory after £25m balance sheet error December 2, 2019 Ted Baker has warned investors that it is set to take up to a £25m hit after overstating the value of inventory on its balance sheet. The retailer has appointed Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer to investigate the issue and told shareholders that it estimates an impact on the value of the clothing stock of between £20m [...]
Capco to become real estate investment trust after completing £425m Earls Court sale December 2, 2019 Capital and Counties will officially become a real estate investment trust (Reit) this year after selling off its vast Earls Court development site. The FTSE 250 property giant said it is now a “prime central London property investment business centred around Covent Garden” after officially completing the sale of its stake in Earls Court to [...]
Nomura chief executive steps down after seven years in the role December 2, 2019 Japanese investment bank Nomura today announced that chief executive Koji Nagai, who has led a seven-year restructuring effort, will step down. According to a statement from the group, Nagai will be replaced by current chief operating officer Kentaro Okuda on 1 April. Read more: Japanese investment bank Nomura cuts around 100 jobs in the City [...]
Labour to cut rail fares and create ‘London-style’ ticketing for the UK December 1, 2019 Labour will reform the country’s rail ticketing system to create a one-stop shop for tickets if elected, while also promising to cut fares by 33 per cent. The party wants to create a uniform “London-style” ticketing system that allows contactless payments and sets out fares on a zonal basis. Read more: Train companies to hike [...]
Better together: How media firms are teaming up to take on tech November 30, 2019 The media industry is in flux and embattled publishers and broadcasters are banding together. But will it be enough to fend off the might of big tech? In Succession, the hit HBO show about a crumbling media dynasty, virtually every conversation is a power struggle. But for ageing patriarch Logan Roy, a thinly-veiled Rupert Murdoch, [...]
Train companies to hike rail fares as commuters brace for strike chaos November 30, 2019 Millions of commuters will have to fork out even more on travel from January as UK train companies hike fares by 2.7 per cent on average. The increase is below July’s retail price index figure of 2.8 per cent, which is used to calculate rail fares. However, it is above the equivalent consumer price index [...]