The EU’s maddening, opaque, confusing and illogical import tariffs must be scrapped October 18, 2016 As you sit down to read City A.M. today over a perfectly smooth coffee from one of London’s ubiquitous coffee shops, you’re probably well aware that we don’t grow coffee in this country, never will and don’t care either. So why does coffee need seven different types of import tariffs set by the EU? Today we [...]
BoyleSports is taking its concerns over the Ladbrokes and Gala Coral sale to the CMA October 17, 2016 BoyleSports isn't very happy with the announcement that Ladbrokes and Gala Coral are selling 359 betting shops to Betfred and Stan James. In fact, it plans to take its concerns to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and review its options on what the next steps are, after its bid for the shops was unsuccessful. Read [...]
The fashion industry is on its steepest decline for seven years October 17, 2016 The fashion market is on its steepest decline for seven years, according to new data, with £700m wiped off the value of the UK market since last year. According to figures from Kantar Worldpanel, sales declined for the fourth month in a row in September as retailers continued to offer huge discounts to consumers. Kantar [...]
Hard Brexit or soft Brexit, does it matter? October 17, 2016 So is it going to be a “hard” or a “soft” Brexit? Since our new Prime Minister began to lay out her Brexit negotiating stance this question has become a persistent preoccupation, particularly in business circles. To consider the answer we need to separate the politics of hard and soft, from the financial and stock [...]
Focus On Holloway: How the area went from “no-go area” to a thriving hotspot for independent businesses October 17, 2016 Holloway may be one of the oldest neighbourhoods in north London, but it hasn’t always been popular. Londoners who weren’t Arsenal fans might only pass through to get on to the M1 and its infamous women’s prison on Parkhurst Road hardly does wonders for its reputation. For a long time, its only cultural claim to [...]
City AM talk with Bink cofounders Lee Clarke and Greg Gormley about resuscitating the loyalty marketing industry October 17, 2016 The road to a cashless society has been a fairly smooth one so far – the ubiquity of contactless payments and online shopping have made it so. But where cash may have once made your wallet bulge, often the weight has been replaced with a deck of loyalty cards. Before we’re quite done eradicating cash, [...]
Meet the woman who wants to make the private jet market greener October 17, 2016 From bouts of turbulence to nightmare passengers, air stewardesses have to cope with their fair share of challenges on a daily basis. “You learn to keep a smile on your face,” says Gabriella Somerville as we climb to 12,000 feet above the capital. The founder of private aviation firm ConnectJets – which manages private jet [...]
London Remainers drag down consumer confidence in the capital October 17, 2016 London consumers are feeling less confident than the rest of the UK, data out today shows. Confidence fell in London during the third quarter despite climbing to a five-year high across the rest of the country, according to the latest survey from accountancy giant Deloitte. Consumer sentiment in the capital fell by three percentage points over [...]
Footfall drops but shoppers keep spending October 17, 2016 Spending on the high street rose last month despite a decline in footfall, the latest data has shown. Retail spending grew in September by 1.3 per cent, while at the same time both footfall and shop prices have dropped year-on-year, according to figures released today by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and retail analysts Springboard. Total [...]
Boden’s profit drops as yummy mummies push prams elsewhere October 16, 2016 Middle class clothing retailer Boden has been losing its shine somewhat as its accounts show flat sales and falling profits. According to Boden's most recent accounts, profits dropped 25 per cent last year, down from £32m to £23.9m. Sales stayed level for the third year in a row at £283m. Boden's net assets also fell, down from [...]