Online push helps Argos deliver best sales growth in two years June 9, 2016 Argos has posted its strongest sales growth in nearly two years and is on track to be taken over by Sainsbury's later this year, results published this morning confirmed. The figures Sales at Argos climbed by 0.1 per cent in the first three months of the financial year on a like-for-like basis, coming in at a [...]
Sir Philip Green hits back at accusations that he ruined a deal to save BHS June 8, 2016 Retail tycoon Sir Philip Green today hit out at accusations that he intervened in a deal that could have saved BHS. Speaking to City A.M., a spokesperson for Green said: "Sir Philip Green provided significant funding to BHS to give it every chance of success under new ownership. He would have welcomed any genuine rescue plan [...]
At the close: FTSE 100 makes it four positive days on the bounce as commodity prices climb June 8, 2016 A rebound in commodity prices gave a boost to the resources and energy heavy FTSE 100 today, moving it ahead of European markets. The index rose by 16.99 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 6,285.21 points, making today its fourth positive session on the bounce. Oil prices continued their recent rally, climbing to their highest price in around eight months. [...]
Dominic Chappell faces MPs’ questions on BHS collapse as retailer’s management appear at BIS select committee hearing June 8, 2016 Former BHS owner Dominic Chappell, the majority shareholder of Retail Acquisitions, which bought BHS for £1 last year from Sir Philip Green, is giving evidence on the retailer's collapse this morning. The business, innovation and skills (BIS) select committee has already heard explosive evidence about the sale of BHS to Retail Acquisitions and its subsequent demise – with [...]
Gala Coral Group shakes off ‘worst Cheltenham since 2003’ to report rise in earnings and sales June 8, 2016 Bookmaker Gala Coral overcame a poor performance at Cheltenham to grow earnings and revenues, with online sales surging in the 28 weeks to 9 April. The figures Earnings before income tax, depreciation and amortisation came in at £122.9m during the first half, up from £101.4m last year. Revenue was up to £606m from £535.7m in the first [...]
Sainsbury’s share price rises despite first quarter sales fall June 8, 2016 UK supermarkets' problems are still lingering in the new financial year, after Sainsbury's reported a fall in like-for-like sales over the last three months and warned of challenging times ahead. With total sales looking steady and investors fearing worse, however, shares jumped 2.6 per cent to 253p in early trading. The figures Total retail sales excluding fuel were up 0.3 per cent in [...]
City Moves for 8 June 2016 | Who’s switching jobs June 8, 2016 National Football League UK Melissa Brown, a sales and marketing executive with more than 15 years’ experience in the entertainment industry, has joined the National Football League’s London office to take responsibility for further growing the league’s commercial performance in the UK. Melissa joins the NFLUK office as vice-president of commercial partnerships following a stint [...]
Every little helps: Tesco to sell Giraffe chain and Turkish interests in bid to offload underperforming assets June 7, 2016 Britain's biggest supermarket chain Tesco is set to sell its Kipa chain in Turkey and Giraffe restaurants in the UK. The sale of Kipa, that Tesco acquired in 2013, is likely to raise "a couple of hundred million pounds", an analyst told Sky News, while an unnamed family-owned investment group is interested in snapping up Giraffe. Tesco bought Giraffe [...]
Accountancy watchdog cannot follow up on BHS inquiry as requested because it’s being asked to investigate people who aren’t actually accountants June 7, 2016 The accountancy watchdog today declined to investigate the BHS collapse as thoroughly as one professional body has requested it to, on the grounds that such a probe would fall miles outside of its remit. Responding to a letter from Simon Walker, director general of the Institute of Directors, the Financial Reporting Council's (FRC) chief executive Stephen [...]
London’s rapid growth fuels our polarised job market June 7, 2016 Last year was another successful one for the capital’s job creation machine. Employment rose by 2.5 percent in 2015, beating the UK-wide rate of two percent, providing work to another 107,400 people. But these gains weren’t evenly shared. Since 2008 London has seen phenomenal growth of very high and very low skilled jobs, whilst those in the [...]