Focus On Hackney: How the London Overground caused a price surge in E8 March 23, 2018 Though the area around Hackney Central is better known as hipster central, the property prices certainly don’t reflect the salaries of young, freelance creatives. The E8 postcode has seen some of the most dramatic house price rises in the whole of London, a trend that has survived the plateau-ing – and declines – of recent [...]
Next (NXT) share price rises as it weathers high street woes to up earnings guidance March 23, 2018 Next reported the results from a difficult year for the retailer, with both sales and profit dipping for the year to January 2018. The retailer said last year in many ways, was “the most challenging” it had faced for 25 years, as a difficult clothing market coincided with “self-inflicted product ranging errors and omissions”. It [...]
Maplin job losses continue as administrators fail to find a buyer March 22, 2018 Maplin's administrators have announced further job losses this morning after failing to find a buyer for the business. The retail chain, which employs more than 2,000 people, was put into administration at the end of February. PwC has been handling the process, and today said a further 66 redundancies had been made at Maplin's head [...]
Retail sales growth beats analysts’ expectations March 22, 2018 Retail sales grew by 0.8 per cent in February, beating analysts’ expectations. However, in the three months to February, sales fell by 0.4 per cent, according to the Office for National Statistics. This was due to a sharp drop in sales in December. The bump was largely due to growth in groceries, fuel and online [...]
New Look’s creditors approve deal to reduce rents and close stores March 21, 2018 New Look’s creditors this afternoon approved a deal to reduce rents and close 60 stores, likely leading to hundreds of job losses at the retailer. The fashion chain has secured a company voluntary agreement (CVA) with landlords, and said up to 980 staff will be made redundant in a raft of store closures. The CVA [...]
Rihanna roils markets as China bags a key element March 21, 2018 Garry White, chief investment commentator, looks at the market moving events that have shaped the UK equity markets this week (March 12 to March 16, 2018). This week, Barbadian singing sensation Rihanna managed to wipe $1bn off the valuation of tech group Snap, the Chinese secured a major cobalt deal to help it produce electric [...]
Small respite for household finances won’t last long March 21, 2018 The fall in Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) in February took a few people by surprise given it had hovered around 3 per cent since November. While a drop had been expected, CPI had not been expected to fall by as much as 0.3 per cent which in economic terms is substantial. While CPI remains above [...]
Waitrose chocolate avocado sells out at some stores as Easter treat becomes best-selling own-brand egg March 21, 2018 Waitrose’s avocado-shaped chocolate egg has become the fastest-selling own-brand Easter egg in the supermarket’s history. The £8 treat has even sold out at some stores as customers rushed to get their hands on one. Waitrose is now restocking its branches in preparation for the weekend. “Our chocolate avocados have been a phenomenal hit with customers [...]
Instagram is launching a shopping service in the UK today March 20, 2018 Instagram today launches a shopping service on its platform, giving retailers the opportunity to turn their posts on the social media site into solid sales. Mobile sales have become a significant source of growth for retailers, and now businesses will be able to direct customers to their own websites through tagged posts on Instagram. Instagram [...]
Why UK-focused stocks look their cheapest in a decade March 19, 2018 Uncertainty about the country’s long-term relationship with the European Union, its biggest trading partner, has left many international investors nervous about investing in UK companies. One recent poll showed that UK stocks were the least popular asset class among global fund managers. I disagree. I can see bright spots in the UK stock market that [...]