Quiz swings to profit as it heads into Christmas party dress season December 7, 2022 Fashion retailer Quiz has continued to bounce back after a torrid lockdown, swinging back into the black in the first-half of the year. The retailer – which operates 62 stores in the UK and an e-commerce platform – posted a £1.8m profit before tax, for the six months to 30 September. It had suffered a [...]
The fate of John Lewis vs Debenhams is a parable in how to adapt to the future December 7, 2022 Emerging technologies, from AI and machine learning to edge computing and the metaverse, are fundamentally revolutionising how data is captured and used by businesses in the UK. The effective application of this data can have a transformational effect on the performance of an organisation. In the UK, we’ve had clear examples of this working to [...]
‘Thousands of jobs at risk’: Bar bosses despair over fresh Christmas rail strikes December 6, 2022 Pub and bar bosses were last night left despairing over a slew of fresh strike dates, which fall over Christmas. Rail union RMT announced three more days of walk-outs on Monday night, with workers set to strike from 6pm on Christmas Eve to 6am on 27 December. Industrial action had already been planned on 13, [...]
Grocery inflation dips for first time in almost two years but ‘long way down’ for price increases December 6, 2022 Grocery price inflation has dipped for the first time in almost two years while the price of a family Christmas dinner sits at an eye-watering £31. The rampant pace of price increases let up slightly this month, dropping 0.1 percentage points – the first dip in 21 months. Four-week inflation now sits at 14.6 per [...]
RMT announces three more days of rail strikes over Christmas December 5, 2022 The union RMT has announced three more days of strike over Christmas as it put Network Rail’s offer to its members with the recommendation to reject it. Workers are set to walk out from 6pm on Christmas Eve to 6am on 27 December. This will be in addition to the planned industrial action on 13, [...]
London venues warn they will haemorrhage sales if rail strikes go ahead this Christmas December 5, 2022 London restaurants have warned they will haemorrhage sales should planned railway strikes go ahead this month, as union bosses rejected a new pay offer over the week. Searcys champagne bar and restaurant chain, which has venues at the Gherkin and St Pancras International station, said it was worried it would take a 30 per cent [...]
Keir Starmer urges compromise on rail strikes after latest pay deal rejected December 5, 2022 Both the unions and the train operators need to compromise to bring the ongoing railway strikes to an end, according to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer. “Both sides need to compromise, both sides need to finish the negotiations and the government needs to drive them forward,” Starmer told ITV’s Good Morning Britain. “The government’s been [...]
Amazon getting ‘free ride’ from UK retailers, Currys boss claims December 5, 2022 Amazon is getting a “free ride” from UK retailers by using the country’s infrastructure while swerving taxes, the head of high street electronics retailer Currys said yesterday. Alex Baldock told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show Amazon “appear[s] to play by different rules than those of us who actually pay some tax”. The online [...]
Capital People: Meet the Bond Street watch dealer serving Daniel Craig and the uber-rich December 2, 2022 London watch dealer Raj Jain has an interesting backstory, having bought and sold rare, antique and luxury watches in both the UK and Mumbai since the 1980s. An industry stalwart, he has been based in London’s fabulous and famous Bond Street area for almost three decades with a watch shop that’s “like a museum” but [...]
Joules bought out of insolvency by Next with 19 stores to close December 1, 2022 Next has bought fashion retailer Joules out of insolvency, beating other high street names in a bidding war. The high street chain called in administrators a few weeks ago, with 1,600 jobs hanging in the balance. Now, stalwart Next has confirmed it has emerged victorious in a battle for the brand, forking out £34m for [...]