July Budget 2015: Living wage bill hurts retailers and small firms July 8, 2015 Retail and hospitality industry insiders warned yesterday that their sectors face a huge rise in labour costs after a Tory pledge to introduce a minimum wage of £9 for over-25s by 2020. From April next year, businesses will be required to pay £7.20 per hour to workers over the age of 25, rising to [...]
Marks & Spencer AGM: Setback for M&S as clothing sales slide off hanger July 7, 2015 Investors and retail observers allowed themselves a small sigh of relief in April when Marks & Spencer brought 14 consecutive quarters of falling general merchandise sales to a halt. After efforts to improve the quality and style of its clothing and to win back disillusioned customers, it seemed to have broken a spell. [...]
Marks & Spencer slips back into decline after just one quarter of growth July 7, 2015 Marks and Spencer's general merchandise arm has slipped back into decline following just one quarter of growth. The figures: M&S' story is pretty much the same as it has been for many months. Total sales in general merchandise were up 0.2 per cent but like-for-likes were down 0.4 per cent, reversing a solitary [...]
House builders’ reports will be corporate focus – London Report July 5, 2015 THE EMERGENCY Budget on Wednesday will see chancellor George Osborne pressing ahead with major cuts to welfare and government departmental spending. However, economists have said that the Budget is unlikely to bring with it any major change in economic policy. Instead, the main focus of Osborne’s speech on Wednesday will be around the £12bn of [...]
St Modwen hails record profits as New Covent Garden Market scheme boosts net asset value June 30, 2015 St Modwen posted a 21 per cent surge in net asset value (Nav) in the first half of the year thanks to its New Covent Garden Market scheme in Nine Elms, which achieved unconditional status in April. The developer reported an Nav per share of 394p after its planned overhaul of the UK’s biggest fruit [...]
Stan Chart and Sainsbury’s lead FTSE 100 risers – London Report June 10, 2015 BRITAIN’S main equity index rallied from three-month lows yesterday, led by advances in banking group Standard Chartered and supermarket chain Sainsbury. Standard Chartered rose 5.8 per cent, with traders citing the possibility that British finance minister George Osborne might announce changes in a tax on the British banking industry when he spoke last night. Any [...]
Apple Pay in the UK: These are the retailers and restaurants signed up for the July launch June 9, 2015 Some of the UK's biggest retailers are lining up to start accepting Apple Pay when it launches in the UK next month. As well as being able to use your iPhone or Apple Watch to seamlessly glide through ticket barriers on the Tube, the Silicon Valley giant has its finger hovering over the button [...]
The fast lane: Spencer Ogden co-founder David Spencer-Percival talks medevacs, detoxes, the youth of today and why banks get a hard time June 7, 2015 It is unlikely that David Spencer-Percival, co-founder of Spencer Ogden, will be reading this any time soon. On Saturday, he and his wife embarked on a caffeine, alcohol and tech detox in an Ibizan forest. “I feel frazzled. Our offices are end-to-end in terms of timezones, so I just never stop. You have to have [...]
Marks & Spencer’s senior execs collect first bonus in two years June 4, 2015 MARKS & Spencer chief executive Marc Bolland has pocketed a bonus for the first time in two years after the high street retailer reported its first rise in annual profits in four years last month. The Dutchman, who joined M&S in 2010, received a £596,000 bonus on top of a basic salary of £975,000, taking [...]
London Collections: Men – the lowdown on the latest menswear trends June 4, 2015 The Breton Stripe is a summer classic. Get the long-sleeved T-shirt from Ralph Lauran at mrporter.com, £110, the chinos from AMI at mrporter.com, £155, the Steve McQueeninspired shades from Persol at davidclulow.com and the “Classic Batchel” shoulder bag from The Cambridge Satchel Company, £130, cambridgesatchel.com Sketches: Emma Hopkins LC:M – aka London’s men’s [...]