Net-A-Porter posts a £27m loss despite jump in full-year sales January 13, 2013 NET-A-Porter, the luxury online retailer, swung to a loss last year after investing heavily in its expansion, despite seeing sales soar by 55 per cent. The group, which is owned by Swiss luxury conglomerate Richemont, made a £27m loss in the year to 31 March 2012 compared with a 5.2m profit the previous year. According [...]
Death of the high street spells doom for retail property January 13, 2013 MORE than one in ten shops in Britain now stand empty. And the situation, the worst it has been in recent years, is unlikely to get better. Gone are the days when consumers spent like lottery winners, and investors could see any high street shop with a good covenant (and upwards-only rent reviews) as the [...]
City Moves for 11 January 2013 | Who’s switching jobs January 10, 2013 Rathbones The investment management firm has appointed Mike Townsend as investment director. He joins from Coutts, where he was a senior private banker. Townsend has 34 years’ experience in wealth management, and is a member of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment. City Financial The fund management firm has appointed Mark Harris as manager [...]
Profit-taking cannot halt FTSE as it hits highest close since May 2008 January 10, 2013 BRITAIN’S top share index closed above the 6,100 resistance level for the first time since 22 May 2008, yesterday, recovering from a late wobble after a choppy trading session. The FTSE 100 index was up 2.86 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 6,101,51, having seen some late profit-taking erased in the closing auction, but the [...]
Amazon expands Tech City hub by hiring 100 new employees January 9, 2013 AMAZON has announced plans to expand its global development hub in London, hiring 100 staff to work on new projects. The web retailer opened the eight-floor centre in Barbican in September, moving staff from its two UK acquisitions, Lovefilm and Pushbutton, to the office where hundreds are employed. The new staff, who will be hired [...]
Rapid responses January 9, 2013 Commuting reality [Re: Further efficiencies are critical to making London’s railways thrive, yesterday] The current proposals for rail improvements are distinctly short sighted. Britain’s railways were built in Victorian times to take travellers from one city centre to another. But this no longer reflects the travel pattern of today’s rail users. The figures reveal a [...]
Rapid responses January 8, 2013 Planning inflation [Re: Daft planning rules are pushing up the price of food in shops, yesterday] While it is always good for an article about planning policy to focus on commercial property rather than housing, and while the academics cited may have delivered interesting papers, let’s not use this work to justify more fiddling with [...]
Daft planning rules are pushing up the price of food in shops January 8, 2013 IF you travelled abroad over Christmas, you will have noticed that goods in shops are often cheaper than in the UK. A uSwitch survey cited by the Institute of Economic Affairs shows that a food basket costs roughly a fifth more in the UK than it does in Germany, France and the Netherlands. Once again, [...]
Daft planning rules are pushing up the price of food in shops January 7, 2013 IF you travelled abroad over Christmas, you will have noticed that goods in shops are often cheaper than in the UK. A uSwitch survey cited by the Institute of Economic Affairs shows that a food basket costs roughly a fifth more in the UK than it does in Germany, France and the Netherlands. Once again, [...]
London Collections Men: day one January 7, 2013 The inaugural three-day showcase is back and bigger than ever AFTER A stellar debut last summer, London Collections: Men kicked off in style yesterday with David Cameron officially opening the festivities with a reception at Downing Street. This year’s event will showcase over 60 of the capital’s best menswear designers, cementing the capital’s position as [...]