City Moves: Who’s switching jobs in the Square Mile this week? September 15, 2021 City A.M.’s Millie Turner provides a roundup of the most important hires and job moves across the City, every Wednesday afternoon. Email citymoves@cityam.com to be featured. Falcon posts City veteran Joe Nally to board Falcon Oil & Gas has posted Cenkos co-founder Joe Nally as a new non-executive chairman to the board of the company with immediate effect. Nally, a City veteran, [...]
John Lewis to recruit 7,000 Christmas jobs September 15, 2021 John Lewis is recruiting more than 7,000 temporary roles across the UK in the run up to Christmas. The retailer is looking to hire 2,000 more workers than last year to meet increased demand. The hiring spree comes as retail bosses have expressed concern about the long-term impact of ongoing supply chain disruption including labour [...]
Mixed Covid-19 messages ‘cannot define this winter’ for business, says London First chief September 14, 2021 The boss of London First has urged the government not to allow mixed messages to define the upcoming winter for businesses, following the health secretary’s Covid-19 plan earlier today. Health secretary Sajid Javid said that the government intends to dodge winter restrictions by allowing booster jabs for those over 50 and vaccinations for 12 to [...]
Nike shares fall as footwear giant could lose production of 160m pairs of shoes September 14, 2021 Nike is at risk of losing the production of 160m pairs of shoes after the shutdown of factory operations in Vietnam due to Covid. Nike shares were down 2.5 per cent on Tuesday morning after the sportswear giant was downgraded from neutral to buy at BTIG. Manufacturing in the country was paused in July after [...]
JD Sports first-half profit jumps after post-lockdown demand September 14, 2021 Sportswear retailer JD Sports Fashion has reported record earnings for the first half thanks to strong demand for sportswear. However, the company withheld its interim dividend and made the suggestion of a “larger full year dividend” instead. JD Sports said it had been limited by supply chain disruption, meaning it had struggled to meet demand [...]
Made.com sees sales jump but still turns a loss in H1 2021 September 14, 2021 Homeware retailer Made.com saw gross sales jump by 54 per cent in the first half of the year, but the company struggled to balance the books. While sales topped £213.9m the company’s loss before tax stood at £10.1m, a 34 per cent improvement on the first half of 2020 when Made.com lost £15.2m. EBITDA climbed [...]
Exclusive: Tax benefits turn luxury watches into investment asset as imports swell to £500m September 13, 2021 A new audience of buyers of luxury watches is increasingly taking the market by storm as they view watches that contain precious metals as a stand-alone investment asset. The value of premium luxury watches imported into the UK increased 43 per cent in the last decade, with £488m worth of imports last year alone, compared to just £276m [...]
ABF pins ‘lower than expected sales’ at Primark on summer pingdemic September 13, 2021 Sales at Primark, a subsidiary of Associated British Foods, have dipped below expectations in the last year, as Gen Z shoppers move away from fast fashion brands. In its pre-close trading update for the full year to 18 September, Associated British Foods (ABF) said: “We have seen a significant improvement in trading as the period [...]
Self-isolation nation: Recovery sluggish as GDP climbs 0.1 per cent in July September 10, 2021 The UK economy grew just 0.1 per cent in July as the post-Covid recovery continued to slow. New official figures released this morning showed a significant fall from June’s one per cent growth, with the economy still 2.1 per cent below its pre-pandemic peak in February 2020. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak remained positive [...]
Ikea set to take on Topshop flagship store on Oxford Street September 9, 2021 Ikea has reportedly agreed a deal to take on Topshop’s flagship store on Oxford Street for around £385m. The furniture conglomerate has also bought the 73,000 sq ft NikeTown and a 4,700 sq ft Vans shop, adjacent to the Topshop store, according to real estate publication React News. Ikea is thought to be planning a [...]