Don’t worry, be happy: FTSE 100 shakes off its ECB woes to open higher, pushed up by Aviva March 11, 2016 The FTSE 100 stormed back into positive territory this morning, after a miserable finish to yesterday's trading. The market was up 1.5 per cent at 6,131.6 points, after it edged perilously close to the 6,000 mark yesterday, when comments by European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi hinted rates are unlikely to be cut any further. [...]
Confederation of British Industry director general Carolyn Fairbairn hits out at Conservative MP Andrew Tyrie after he called the CBI’s EU figures “scandalous” March 3, 2016 Confederation of British Industry (CBI) director general Carolyn Fairbairn has hit back after MPs said it was "scandalous" and "intellectually dishonest" for the pro-EU "Stronger In" campaign to be referencing CBI research. In a letter to Treasury Select Committee chairman Andrew Tyrie today, Fairbairn said CBI research had been "misrepresented" during a committee hearing yesterday. Former [...]
EU referendum: Wages would rise in the event of a Brexit, Lord Rose admits during heated exchange with Andrew Tyrie’s Treasury select committee March 3, 2016 He might be campaigning to keep Britain in the European Union, but Lord Rose might have inadvertently scored an own goal when he admitted yesterday that a Brexit would result in higher wages for domestic workers. The former head of Marks & Spencer, who is leading the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign, told MPs yesterday [...]
Retailers John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Home Retail Group, Kingfisher and John Lewis top list of offenders in late supplier payments February 29, 2016 Britain's five largest high street retailers were late in paying a shocking 80 per cent of their invoices to suppliers last year, a report today has revealed. MarketInvoice, a peer-to-peer platform for selling invoices online, has found that late payments to suppliers rocketed last year, with high street retailers John Lewis, Boots, Home Retail Group, Marks & [...]
EU referendum: Asda, HSBC, Vodafone and nearly 200 sign letter saying Brexit would threaten jobs – but Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s are not on the list February 23, 2016 The bosses of HSBC, BT, Vodafone and Asda are among those to have put their name to an open letter backing the remain camp and Prime Minister David Cameron's reforms in Europe. More than a third of the UK's biggest companies were represented in the letter, which was published in The Times this morning, saying they represented [...]
Britain should vote for Brexit before the inevitable Eurozone meltdown February 23, 2016 Despite David Cameron’s embarrassing imitation of Oliver Twist in Brussels last week, his negotiations ended up mired in the minutiae of trivial amendments to the UK’s relationship with Europe. Small restrictions to child benefit and vague wording about exemption from a common currency and “ever closer union” are the thin gruel that our hapless Prime [...]
LFW Autumn-Winter ’16: Who are the London Fashion Week brands to bank on? How share prices for Marks & Spencer, Burberry and Mulberry are shaping up ahead of the the shows February 14, 2016 In a little over four days time, London will be buzzing with trendsetters as Fashion Week arrives in the capital. But, apart from rerouting your commute so it doesn't head through Soho, what does this mean for the average City A.M. reader? Here's a run down of the business news you need to know for some [...]
Marks and Spencer is narrowing the gap with high street rival Next, says Moody’s February 8, 2016 Marks & Spencer is closing in on its high street rival Next after boosting the profitability in its troubled clothing business by bringing more of its design in house and sourcing directly from suppliers, according to analysts at credit ratings agency Moody’s. In a note published the morning, Moody’s said Next’s credit profile is stronger [...]
EU referendum: Tory MP Michael Fabricant discusses leaving the EU, in-fighting and the way forward for the splintered Brexit groups February 8, 2016 “The UK may be 25 miles off the coast of Calais, but culturally it’s 25 miles off the coast of Boston, Massachusetts, or Brisbane, Australia,” says Michael Fabricant, MP for Lichfield and former Conservative Party vice-chairman. Fabricant, who readers may know from his wryly written tweets that get him into occasional trouble, is a man [...]
Business is better off in the EU – now it’s time to say so January 28, 2016 After a life working in and running large businesses like Marks & Spencer, I have been asked why I wanted to chair the Britain Stronger In Europe campaign. The answer is simple. Nothing is more important for British business at the moment than our place in the European Union being under threat. Being in the [...]