‘The world of Cat TV is more cut throat than you would ever imagine’ – inside the strange business of TV… for cats
New bidder circles Stansted Airport November 25, 2012 THE sale of Stansted Airport is believed to have attracted fresh attention from Malaysia. Stansted’s owner BAA, which recently renamed itself Heathrow, is being forced to sell the airport by competition authorities, after losing its final appeal in August. Suitors so far include Manchester Airports Group, New Zealand-based investment manager Morrison & Co, Australia’s Macquarie [...]
Should Sunday trading hours be extended in supermarkets for the Christmas period? November 22, 2012 YES Dalton Philips The seven trading days before Christmas day are the busiest days of the year for grocery shopping. This period puts a huge strain on staff across our business, but particularly those in stores, logistics, and in manufacturing. Our analysis shows that, in the seven days prior to our early closing on Christmas [...]
Morrisons wants new trading laws November 21, 2012 Morrisons, Britain’s fourth-biggest supermarket chain, yesterday joined Asda in lobbying government for Sunday trading laws to be relaxed on 23 December this year, arguing that the second day before Christmas is usually the busiest shopping day of the year. With the 23rd falling on a Sunday retailers are restricted by law to opening for a [...]
New media star is born as DMGT sells Northcliffe November 21, 2012 DAILY MAIL & General Trust (DMGT) yesterday sold off its regional newspaper arm to a consortium led by the former chief executive of the Mirror Group, David Montgomery, in a deal that forms a new British media firm. The firm, called Local World, will consist of Northcliffe’s more than 80 papers, with 36 titles from [...]
Best of the Brokers November 18, 2012 COMPASS Panmure Gordon has a “buy” rating on the outsourcing firm and an 820p price target ahead of results on Wednesday. The broker expects eight per cent operating profit growth. WM MORRISON UBS has cut its rating from “buy” to “neutral” and slashed its target from 340p to 270p. The broker thinks the supermarket’s trading [...]
Asda sales slow as it forecasts a bleak Christmas November 15, 2012 ASDA, the UK’s second largest supermarket, reported a slowdown in third quarter like-for-like sales growth yesterday and struck a sober note in its outlook on the Christmas quarter. Like-for-like sales rose 0.3 per cent in the three months to 30 September, down from 0.7 per cent in the previous quarter and 2.2 per cent in [...]
Sainsbury wins shoppers over with coupons November 14, 2012 J SAINSBURY boss Justin King said the supermarket’s Nectar data and coupon-at-till scheme would give it the edge over rivals ahead of another competitive christmas, as it reported a rise in half-year profit. Britain’s third largest supermarket beat forecasts with a five per cent rise in first-half profit to £373m, driven by convenience store growth [...]
Asian ambition risks a Prudential departure November 14, 2012 PRUDENTIAL boss Tidjane Thiam failed in his bid for AIG’s Asian insurance arm AIA in 2010, but yesterday’s third quarter numbers show the insurer has not turned its back on Asia’s opportunities. Far from it, with the Asian part of the business showing £828m new business profit in the year to date, as against £683m [...]
Wincanton swings back to profit November 12, 2012 Supply chain company Wincanton returned to profit in the six months to September, posting pre-tax profits of £13m, up from a loss of £13.6m over the same period in 2011. Over the past six months, it has won several contracts in the retail sector, notably with B&Q and with Morrisons to operate a convenience distribution [...]
Morrisons’ top director leaves as sales worsen November 8, 2012 WM MORRISON’S chief executive admitted yesterday it had not done enough to reach out to customers after the supermarket posted a worsening decline in sales and parted ways with its commercial director. Revealing a 2.1 per cent drop in third quarter sales, Dalton Philips said it had not promoted strengths that set it apart from [...]