Ikea’s global profit is up 20 per cent for 2016 with growth in China December 7, 2016 Swedish furniture retailer Ikea Group reported global profit rose 20 per cent following its fifth year of sales growth in the UK last month and rapid growth in China. The figures Total sales for the financial year reached €34.2bn (£29.1bn), up 7.1 per cent from last year, and sales grew in 27 out of 28 markets. China was one of [...]
Have yourself an analogue Christmas: Vinyl outsold digital downloads for the first time last week December 6, 2016 It's going to be a crackly, scratchy sort of Christmas this year, after new figures showed sales of vinyl outstripped those of downloaded music for the first time since the advent of digital downloads last week. The Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) said £2.4m was spent on vinyl albums in week 48 of 2016, compared with £2.1m [...]
This independent beer brand has just started a war on corporate craft beer wannabes December 6, 2016 HonestBrew has started a row with what they claim are faux craft beer peddlers, claiming global industry leaders "hide behind" craft beer names to "trick" beer lovers into thinking they're supporting local businesses. The craft beer seller said multinational companies like AB InBev, a group they nickname "Blandy", buy out local breweries like Camden Town and retailers like Beer Hawk [...]
Raise a glass: The Independent English Wine Awards will give English-made wine a marketing boost December 6, 2016 The first competition made up entirely of independent English wines was announced today. After the news that English wine producers pledged to increase their exports tenfold by 2020, founder Alex Taylor wants the competition to raise the profile of England's wines and prove their quality. Read more: Britain is set to become a top wine producing [...]
Say goodbye to Co-op Travel: Thomas Cook buys the group out of its joint venture for £55.8m December 6, 2016 Thomas Cook today said it is planning to buy The Co-operative Group out of its joint venture, taking full control of the UK retail store network, for £55.8m. The tourism company will purchase The Co-operative Group's 30 per cent stake and Central England Co-operative's 3.5 per cent stake for £50m and £5.8m respectively – both [...]
Black Friday wasn’t quite the sales boost retailers may have expected December 6, 2016 Black Friday wasn't quite the spending boom that retailers were expecting. Figures from KPMG and the British Retail Consortium (BRC) show that like-for-like UK retail sales increased 0.6 per cent in November. Read more: Piccadilly Line delays likely to continue until after Christmas, TfL admits And, although non-food sales increased around 40 per cent on [...]
Experts predict annual record of car sales after fleet demand drives another month of growth December 5, 2016 Britain's businesses fuelled record new car sales for the first 11 months of the year, offsetting another month of falling demand from private car buyers. Sales increased by 2.9 per cent during November compared with 2015 according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). With 184,101 vehicles registered during the month, a total of [...]
Fortnum & Mason announces record results with sales and profit up December 5, 2016 Luxury retailer Fortnum & Mason has announced record sales and profit growth of more than 25 per cent for the third year in a row, and revealed that it has increased trading with domestic UK brands over the past 12 months. The iconic British brand reported profits of £6.2m, up 27 per cent compared to [...]
Risk and reward: Adam French, co-founder of Scalable Capital, left Goldman to develop an algorithm for matching retail investors with the right ETFs December 5, 2016 For two years, Adam French knew he was leaving Goldman Sachs. “The day I quit was quite liberating – it’s just not that easy to step away from a Goldman job,” says the former trader, and chief executive and co-founder of digital investment management firm Scalable Capital. There was no “eureka moment”, he adds – [...]
How to prepare your portfolio for inflation December 2, 2016 Concerns about inflation were already on the rise. Donald Trump’s victory in the US election has further stoked expectations that price pressure, absent in most Western economies since the financial crisis, may make a return in 2017 and beyond. The basics Inflation is a measure of how fast the prices of goods and services [...]