British-made craft gin and English sparkling wine are now top sellers in M&S December 22, 2016 British-made craft spirits and wine are finally having their moment this year. Marks & Spencer declared British gin the spirit of Christmas 2016 after reporting more than a quarter of a million bottles of its eight new gins made in the UK have been sold following their release this autumn. Gin sales increased 150 per cent [...]
Editor’s 2016 review: It’s been a year of momentous political change, but there’s every reason to look to the future December 22, 2016 Attempting to reflect such an extraordinary year with just a handful of our own front pages was always going to be difficult, but I thought we’d give it a go. The front page of City A.M. is (to borrow a phrase from our marketing department) the front door of our brand. The choice of splash, [...]
Crown Estate pushes ahead with £100m West End project after Brexit vote pause December 21, 2016 The Crown Estate has recovered from post-Brexit vote jitters to push ahead with a £100m West End development. The property company, which is owned by the sovereign, put the redevelopment of the Grade II listed building on hold after the EU referendum. Read more: Venture capital firm signs up to Crown Estate scheme But Crown [...]
Big win for Wincanton as it inks four-year warehouse deal with Ikea December 21, 2016 Supply chain solutions group Wincanton has won the contract for Ikea's warehouses in London, the group announced today. Shares in Wincanton rose 2.34 per cent at the open. The agreement, which will run for four years, will see Wincanton lease and fit-out the warehouses on behalf of the Swedish furniture giant. Ikea's London warehouses occupy a combined [...]
Holiday delivery failures threaten to have a big impact on UK retailers’ bottom lines and tarnish reputations December 21, 2016 Delivery failures over the Christmas period are set to impact UK retailers' bottom lines as they could be missing out on more than £3bn, new research today revealed. In the UK, 16m consumers faced delivery delays over the 2015 holiday season, and 73 per cent of them still refuse to shop with the offending retailer this [...]
City Moves for 21 December 2016 | Who’s switching jobs December 21, 2016 Al Rayan Bank (UK) Al Rayan Bank (UK) has appointed Venkat Chandrasekar as its new chief operations officer to oversee the bank’s frontline functions. An operations and technology leader with 17 years’ managerial experience in retail banking, he joins the Bank from Citibank where he held a number of senior positions over his 13-year tenure, most [...]
Heavy Black Friday discounting drove the basket value of online electrical purchases to its lowest value ever December 20, 2016 Black Friday discounting slashed the average value of online purchases in the electrical sector by 22.7 per cent year on year, a new report suggests. Discounts on electronics were key for attracting bargain-hunting Black Friday shoppers, but new figures show the price cuts brought the average basket value down to £119 in November, its lowest value [...]
The Southern rail strike saga has cost the economy £300m already, says university study December 20, 2016 The Southern rail strikes are costing the UK economy hundreds of millions of pounds, according to new research from the University of Chichester. A study, led by Dave Cooper, professor of management and economic development, has put the cost of the strike saga to the country's GDP at as much as £300m. The industrial action, carried [...]
Transport for London is opening the railway arches at Wood Lane December 20, 2016 Transport for London (TfL) is opening up the railway arches at Wood Lane. The 31 railway arches in west London, currently unused, will be transformed into commercial and retail space. There will also be new pedestrian passageways under the arches and new bicycle parking places. Read more: Weak pound draws tourists to London's Westfield centres TfL [...]
City Moves for 19 December 2016 | Who’s switching jobs December 19, 2016 Fitch Fitch has appointed Sean Costello as head of its EMEA corporates banker team. Sean joins from Commerzbank where he was head of loan capital markets within their leveraged finance group. Sean joined Commerzbank in August 2005 from the leveraged loan distribution team at Bank of Scotland and prior to that, NIBC Bank and NatWest Capital Markets. With [...]