11 of the world’s 100 most sustainable companies are in the UK: Marks & Spencer, BT, and the London Stock Exchange January 22, 2015 The UK is home to 11 of the world's 100 most sustainable companies with Marks & Spencer, BT, and the London Stock Exchange all making it into the prestigious ranking. The other UK-based companies listed were Reckitt Benckiser, Centrica, Unilever, British Land, Sky, Pearson, BG Group and Electrocomponents. Each year media company Corporate Knights produces the ranking which measures companies' sustainability in terms [...]
Marks & Spencer seeks customer loyalty with digital coffee app trial January 21, 2015 Marks & Spencer's chief executive Marc Bolland knows something about the power of loyalty. In his case it's shareholder (and staff) sticking with him despite three and a half years-worth of consecutive declines in clothing sales. But the business is also awakening to the fact it's quite helpful if your customers are loyal, [...]
Two of the big four supermarkets pay less than the cost of production for milk, Sainsbury’s advert claims January 21, 2015 Sainsbury's has revealed how much supermarkets pay farmers for milk- and claims that at least two of the big four stump up less than the cost of production. The figures have been released as part of the grocer's latest ad campaign, which claims that “at Sainsbury's we support our British fresh milk farmers,” asking [...]
Ex-M&S exec Simon Webster to lead Silvertown Quays regeneration in London’s Royal Docks January 18, 2015 Former Sainsbury’s and Marks and Spencer director Simon Webster has been appointed to lead the £3.5bn regeneration of Silvertown Quays in London’s Royal Docks. The Silvertown Partnership, a consortium of developers Chelsfield Properties, First Base and Macquarie Capital, said Webster has joined the team as managing director. He was previously managing director of The Goodman [...]
H&M dresses up warm as strong winter collection boosts its sales January 15, 2015 Hennes & Mauritz, the world’s second-biggest fashion retailer, yesterday reported higher-than-expected sales growth in December, helped by strong collections and colder weather after an unusually mild autumn in Europe. For Sweden-based H&M, it was the ninth consecutive month that the company, which is also benefiting from a recovering North American economy, achieved sales clearly or [...]
Why Marks & Spencer’s investors haven’t all revolted on Marc Bolland (yet) in two charts January 15, 2015 Marks & Spencer's chief executive Marc Bolland has come in for a pounding yet again, after the retailer revealed another set of dismal results last week. Like-for-likes in general merchandise, which includes clothing, fell 5.8 per cent for the 13 weeks to December 27, the 14th consecutive quarter M&S has recorded declines in this division. [...]
German food discounters Aldi and Lidl enjoy premium branding buzz – Brand Index January 13, 2015 In another blow to traditional British grocers in the ongoing supermarket price war, budget food retailers Aldi and Lidl are the highest performing brands in YouGov’s BrandIndex Buzz score rankings for 2014. But there is still good news for some more of Britain’s most loved retailers, such as John Lewis and Marks & Spencer. The [...]
M&S share price tumbles as Christmas delivery woes send sale figures plunging January 8, 2015 Delivery problems over the Christmas period have been blamed for poor quarterly results at Marks and Spencers, which sent shares tumbling by more than 3.5 per cent yesterday. The firm reported that sales of general merchandise, which included clothing and homewares, fell 5.4 per cent in the three months to 27 December, while international sales [...]
Tesco soars as M&S suffers a slump on buoyant trading – London Report January 8, 2015 LONDON’S shares rallied strongly yesterday, amid a broad-based global equities rally, with supermarkets topping the FTSE 100 gainers after Tesco outlined plans to try to revive its fortunes. The FTSE 100 closed up 2.3 per cent at 6,569.96. Tesco was the best-performing stock on the FTSE 100, closing up 15 per cent at 209.25p. The [...]
Tesco’s rising share price leads FTSE 100 higher January 8, 2015 Tesco became the biggest riser on the FTSE 100 this morning, with its shares jumping more than 11 per cent in lunchtime trading after it posted encouraging Christmas trading figures. By close of trading, Tesco's share price had soared 16.4 per cent. The rally helped the FTSE 100 to rise almost 2.3 per cent. Other [...]