Northgate races forward with 22 per cent pre-tax profit jump June 25, 2014 VAN rental company Northgate yesterday announced that it had beat market estimates with a 22 per cent rise in full-year profit as a result of more businesses leasing its vans in Spain and the UK. While revenue from vehicle hires in the UK grew marginally and those in Spain fell slightly, Northgate said the number [...]
Wind blows in record profits at Crown Estate June 25, 2014 CROWN Estate chief executive Alison Nimmo said the company had “hit a sweet spot” last year as the regeneration of its prized West London properties and offshore wind helped deliver record full-year profits. The Crown Estate’s net profit, which goes into the Treasury’s coffers, rose to a record £267.1m in the year to 31 March [...]
Google I/O 2014: Expect Google TV, Google Glass, Android Lollipop and wearables June 25, 2014 Google’s I/O conference brings together developers from across the world to see the latest breakthroughs, products and software created by the internet giant. The event kicks off later today, but speculation is rife about the announcements due to come out of San Francisco. Here’s what’s expected (in addition to guests pulling up in Google's driverless [...]
Key retail growth indicator plummets on clothing sales slump June 25, 2014 A key indicator of retail strength has seen unexpected weakness in June. The headline figure of sales growth, released by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), has fallen to just four per cent, from 16 per cent in May. Just 29 per cent of the 133 firms surveyed saw sales volumes higher than in June [...]
Domino falls on its warning of flat trading June 24, 2014 DOMINO Printing, the seller of printing equipment for retailers, led the FTSE 250 fallers yesterday after warning that pricing pressure in Asia would lead to flat profits in 2015. Shares tumbled 16.7 per cent on the news, making Domino the top percentage loser on the London Stock Exchange yesterday. Domino’s results for the six months [...]
The City’s office choir kicks off LSE with “Let’s go fly a kite” from Mary Poppins June 23, 2014 Stock market ceremonies vary from place to place, there are bells, buzzers and countdown orbs, but we’d wager none have ever kicked off a day’s trading with a song – until yesterday. Stocks began Monday morning trading on the LSE following a rendition of “Let’s go fly a kite” from Mary Poppins – sung by [...]
Star man June 23, 2014 This impossibly complicated piece is coming to a store near you There’s a flurry of London watch shop openings in the offing this summer: Richard Mille’s coming to Mount Street, Blancpain to Bond Street and Harrods is opening a second branch of its Fine Watch Room in Heathrow’s re-opened T2. But the most exciting new [...]
Islamic Bank of Britain looks to halt losses with new CEO appointment June 23, 2014 The Islamic Bank of Britain has just appointed a new CEO, with the hope that he will drive profits for the first time since the bank began ten years ago. In his previous role as interim managing director, Sultan Choudhury successfully oversaw the bank's takeover by Qatari Sharia financing firm Masraf Al Rayan, which had [...]
5 retailers who’ve suffered warehouse woes June 23, 2014 Retailers have had their fair share of misadventures with their warehouses in recent years. The fire at Asos’ distribution centre in Yorkshire is the second time the retailer has suffered damage to one of its warehouses. An explosion at the Buncefield oil depot near to its former site in Hemel Hempstead in 2005 [...]
Amazon joining with Doddle to start railway station collections June 23, 2014 AMAZON customers will soon be able to pick up parcels from railway stations as part of a new deal between the online retail giant and Doddle, the click-and-collect joint venture between Network Rail and Travelex millionaire Lloyd Dorfman. Doddle is currently running a pilot operation at Milton Keynes station, with plans to expand the service [...]