High life for the housebound? BA begins sale of first class stock November 23, 2020 You might not be able to fly first class at the moment, but you could slip into some first class slippers this Christmas after British Airways announced a sale of thousands of stock items. Housebound passengers missing the high life will be able to splash out on the full range of BA items, from champagne [...]
Coronavirus lockdown: Central London retail footfall plunges 80 per cent November 23, 2020 Central London retail footfall fell 80.4 per cent last week compared to 2019 levels as the England-wide coronavirus lockdown continued to take its toll on the nation’s struggling high streets. The latest data showed that the capital was the worst affected region due to the impact of home-working, the lack of domestic and international tourists [...]
Piece of Cake: Lockdown treats boost revenue 30 per cent at Cake Box November 23, 2020 Specialist dessert retailer Cake Box saw shares spike almost four per cent this morning, as it announced group revenue jumped just under a third in the first half of 2020. The cream cake specialist said group revenue hiked 30 per cent to £8.6m in the 20 weeks to 30 September — up from £6.6m in [...]
Second national lockdown to drive Black Friday sales down 20 per cent November 23, 2020 The introduction of a second national lockdown will push Black Friday sales down 20 per cent as consumers wait for shops to reopen to bag a bargain. Nationwide Building Society predicted a drop off in spending on 27 November, compared to a previous forecast of a 12 per cent increase, due to the month-long lockdown. [...]
BNP Paribas’ UK property chief on the impact of the pandemic November 20, 2020 In his first interview since taking up the role of UK CEO of BNP Paribas Real Estate in July, Etienne Prongué sat down with City A.M.’s Michiel Willems to discuss the unprecedented beating the City’s property investment space received since the start of the pandemic, with transaction and fundraising levels remaining suppressed. But despite the [...]
Sage sees revenue rise on bump in software subscriptions November 20, 2020 Software group Sage today said that a bump in subscriptions had helped it increase revenue nearly a tenth across the last financial year. The Newcastle-based company saw revenue rise 8.5 per cent to £1.6bn for the year, with subscription growth up 20.5 per cent to £1.1bn. Sage added that it had seen particularly strong growth [...]
The Big Rebuild: Why sport must recognise importance of PR before it’s too late November 20, 2020 Covid-19 has ripped the sports industry to shreds, leaving a trail of bare-bones teams who are overworked and stretched. During a second lockdown it might seem hasty to think about rebuilding and planning for the coming months. But we know that one day sport’s fan ban will be lifted. Once it does, it will happen [...]
UK retail sales outperform expectations ahead of second lockdown November 20, 2020 UK retail sales rose for the sixth consecutive month, smashing analysts’ expectations as Britons stocked up on goods ahead of new restrictions. In October UK retail sales volumes grew 1.2 per cent, well ahead of the 0.0 per cent expected, said the Office for National Statistics. Volumes are now 6.7 per cent higher than in [...]
From hero to zero: How supermarkets became the villains of the pandemic November 20, 2020 The recent news from Public Health England (PHE) that supermarkets are the most frequent common exposure setting for those catching Covid-19 in England is both shocking and devastating. But should we really be too surprised? PHE used data collated from the NHS test and trace app during the lockdown in November when supermarkets, as in [...]
Toy stores demand to reopen or risk ‘allowing Covid to steal Christmas’ November 19, 2020 Toy stores have urged the Prime Minister to allow their shops to open as essential businesses during lockdown, or risk allowing “Covid to steal Christmas”. In a letter to Boris Johnson, toy industry chiefs warned that without bricks and mortar trade during November and December many stores will be forced to close permenantly. British Toy [...]