City Moves for 16 November 2016 | Who’s switching jobs November 16, 2016 HSBC HSBC’s Sanjeev Chopra is to join Psigma Investment Management as investment director in January 2017 reporting to John Howard-Smith, CEO. A seasoned investment professional, Sanjeev has worked at HSBC for nearly two decades, his most recent role being client director at HSBC Global Asset Management. IHS Markit IHS Markit has appointed Andrew Aziz as the global [...]
Defence and aerospace group Meggitt returns to growth and appoints former Rolls-Royce executive as COO November 15, 2016 Shares in aerospace and defence giant Meggitt rose almost five per cent today after the firm appointed a former Rolls-Royce executive as its new chief operating officer and reported a return to organic growth. Tony Wood, a former head of aerospace at Rolls-Royce, will join Meggitt on 1 December. Chief executive Stephen Young said Wood's "extensive industry [...]
Sales at Tesco are growing at their fastest rate in three years – but Morrisons and Asda are still suffering November 15, 2016 The supertanker that is Tesco continues to change its course, after new figures suggested its sales rose to their highest in three years in the last quarter. Data by Kantar Worldpanel showed Tesco sales rose 2.2 per cent in the 12 weeks to 6 November, putting its market share at 28.2 per cent – up from [...]
Christmas adverts rated: Which retailer has made the best ad of 2016? November 12, 2016 Argos A gang of multicoloured yetis on ice skates stealing unattended electrical items from a pleasant-looking neighbourhood. Does anything say ‘come and visit our store’ less? ★☆☆☆☆ Aldi Good-looking food. But the poor carrot, Kevin, who we become attached to in this one-minute advert, is surely destined to meet an unfortunate ending. ★★★☆☆ Ebay Definitely [...]
Businesses are unwittingly entering the political fray with post-Brexit price rises November 10, 2016 More businesses are justifying price rises by blaming the fall in the pound post-Brexit. Whatever their commercial reasons, this is an extremely dangerous game. Commenting in these ways means entering the political arena at a sensitive time. These firms should be ready for serious scrutiny and hostile comment – now, but more importantly in the [...]
Sainsbury’s like-for-like sales fell for its first half, but statutory profit is up November 9, 2016 Sainsbury's like-for-like sales excluding fuel fell by one per cent in the its first half as the supermarket faces an uphill struggle to entice customers through its doors. The company eked out more profit however. Sainsbury's share fell at the open, ditching almost five per cent after it warned second half underlying profit is expected [...]
Leicester City 1, West Brom 2: Claudio Ranieri cites Champions League exertions for loss of 20-match unbeaten home record November 6, 2016 Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri blamed an over-focus on the club’s Champions League campaign for the surrendering of their 20-game unbeaten Premier League record in a 2-1 reverse against West Brom. Club-record £29m striker Islam Slimani had hauled the Foxes level after James Morrison’s second-half opener, only for Matty Phillips to take advantage of a woeful [...]
Now Birds Eye and Walkers are putting up prices after Brexit November 6, 2016 Birds Eye and Walkers are following in the footsteps of consumer goods giant Unilever in raising their prices following a slump in the value of the pound after Brexit. Frozen food brand Birds Eye could raise prices by as much as 12 per cent in the next month according to the Sunday Times, and pack sizes [...]
M&S retail boss wrote to former chancellor George Osborne to defend benefit cuts for staff November 4, 2016 M&S management wrote to former chancellor George Osborne this summer as the business was under siege for cutting staff benefits. In an internal memo seen by City A.M., the retail director of M&S, Sacha Berendji, told staff he wrote to Osborne responding to criticism about cutting premium pay rates for staff. Read more: M&S shells out £100m for pension changes [...]
John Lewis Partnership considers further reforms to staff benefits as squeeze on retailers tightens November 4, 2016 High street stalwart the John Lewis Partnership is considering further curbs on staff benefits as it becomes the latest retailer to fight back against soaring costs for the sector. Documents seen by City A.M. suggest the escalating national living wage could cost the John Lewis Partnership an additional £171m in 2020. Between 2015, when the [...]