London Fashion Week kicks off as China slowdown is becoming an increasing headache for luxury brands September 15, 2015 Friday marks the start of London fashion week, when luxury brands flaunt their Spring/Summer collections on the catwalk and throw champagne-fuelled parties to celebrate the arrival of the next fashion season. But behind the scenes, the party mood is more subdued as luxury companies nervously assess how great an impact the ongoing economic slowdown [...]
Ikea enjoys record year fuelled by Chinese and Russian shoppers September 10, 2015 Furniture giant Ikea reported another record year yesterday after enjoying strong demand for its flat-pack furniture across all markets. The Swedish company reported an 11 per cent increase in full-year sales to a record €31.9bn (£23.2bn) compared with the previous year. Sales at stores open more than a year grew by 5.1 per cent in [...]
Notion that Rickie Fowler is the most overrated golfer on the PGA Tour is nonsense September 9, 2015 America's Rickie Fowler topped a poll of the most overrated golfers on the PGA Tour in May – what a load of nonsense. In the same week as that insulting poll he went on to beat Sergio Garcia and Kevin Kisner in a play-off to claim the Players Championship at Sawgrass in the most [...]
Wealthy foreign students paying three-times average Brit on renting luxury flats in London locations Mayfair, Knightsbridge and South Kensington September 8, 2015 Wealthy foreign students are paying three-times the average Briton's salary to rent out luxury flats in desirable London locations such as Mayfair, Knightsbridge and South Kensington, a new report claims. London receives around 107,000 international students each year, who pay a total of £600m in rent, according to the study by lettings agent E [...]
Russia is not interested in joining Opec September 7, 2015 Russia has no plans to join the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), an oil-producing cartel of mostly Middle Eastern countries, according the to boss of a major Russian energy company. “Opec has lost its influence as a key market regulator, [there’s] no interest for Russia to join,” said Igor Sechin, chief executive of state-owned [...]
Lego sales out of this world as its toy figures head into space September 3, 2015 LEGO’S toys and sales both – quite literally – skyrocketed yesterday after Denmark’s first astronaut set off into space yesterday taking 26 Lego toy figures with him. The Danish company designed 26 toy astronaut figures bearing the logo for the European Space Agency (ESA) to accompany 38 year-old Andreas Mogensen aboard the Russian Soyuz rocket, [...]
It’s so moneysupermarket, and it knows it – Brand Index September 2, 2015 Moneysupermarket.com has reported a 44 per cent rise in profit in the six months to the end of June. So what is the secret to this success? YouGov BrandIndex’s set of data shows that the price comparison market is characterised by memorable ad campaigns that in some cases have become part of popular culture. [...]
Ukrainian central bank cuts interest rate to 27 per cent as it secures debt relief from creditors August 27, 2015 Ukraine has cut its interest rate to 27 per cent, a reduction of three percentage points – despite having inflation of 55.3 per cent in July. The Ukrainian central bank said in a statement: "Tight monetary policy pursued by the National Bank of Ukraine for the past six months has significantly contributed to reducing inflation [...]
Russia u-turn: Unbans Wikipedia just hours after banning it August 25, 2015 All of Wikipedia was briefly banned in Russia yesterday, ostensibly over the content on a cannabis page, but less than 24 hours after imposing the ban, Russian authorities did a u-turn. Most internet users in Russia never even had time to notice the ban, which had been widely criticised as yet another act of censorship [...]
Russia has banned Wikipedia today in what activists are calling an attack on open internet August 24, 2015 In yet another blow against open internet in Russia, authorities banned Wikipedia today, ostensibly over drug-related content. Officially, this is about a Wikipedia page essentially explaining how to make charas, a kind of cannabis. Kremlin’s surveillance authority Roskomnadzor has been trying to get the page removed, threatening to ban the whole website unless it complied. [...]