Liverpool suffer £20m loss as revenue lags behind Premier League rivals March 1, 2017 Liverpool suffered a £19.8m loss last season despite generating more revenue than ever before. The Premier League side boosted revenue by £3.9m to a club record £301m, yet finished the year in the red as a result of "further investment and turnover in the first team squad" in the year ending 31 May 2016. Twelve [...]
Next Liverpool CEO Peter Moore signals new direction for the club – six things you need to know February 28, 2017 As their team nursed the wounds of a bruising 3-1 defeat to Leicester City on Monday night, Liverpool made an announcement that could have much further-reaching implications than a disappointing loss in the league. The club revealed that from June its new chief executive will be Peter Moore, currently chief competition officer at video game giants Electronic [...]
High street stalwart Debenhams shakes off payment scandal February 22, 2017 Last week, Debenhams was named by the government as one of the worst companies for underpaying staff. YouGov Brand Index data shows how the news has altered perception of the brand. Over the last year, I have discussed how adverse stories about pay have damaged companies including Sports Direct and Harrods, but also how positive [...]
We drive an updated model of the classic 90s roadster to see if its new retractable roof is as reliable as it is ravishing February 20, 2017 F or such a lightweight, the original Mazda MX-5 packed a mighty punch. In 1990, when the original MX-5 finally arrived in the UK, this feather-light and affordable roadster upset the establishment. It was the closest thing to a great British sports car since the death of the MGB in 1980. Sure, Lotus beat Mazda [...]
Regulators make Mike Ashley backed firm pay £12.5m back to customers February 17, 2017 A division of Findel, the London-listed firm backed by Sports Direct, has agreed with financial regulators to pay £12.5m back to customers for insurance products that "offered little or no value". Personal shopping firm Express Gifts, one of the two main divisions of Findel, sold either property insurance or purchase protection insurance products to customers between 2005 and 2015. [...]
Argos fined £1.5m for not paying workers the national minimum wage February 16, 2017 Home Retail Group has been fined £1.5m for not paying 37,000 Argos workers the national minimum wage. The business said it was paying back current and previous workers £64 each, with the total cost coming to £2.4m. If the company pays back HM Revenue and Customs within 14 days, it will only have to pay £800,000. Read [...]
Firms are wising up on the need to reform executive pay February 16, 2017 To mere mortals, executive pay can sometimes seem out of this world. Gary Cohn, the former Goldman Sachs No2 who is now director of the National Economic Council in the US, was awarded $284m (£227m) by the Wall St bank upon departure. In the UK, the best paid chief executive is WPP’s Sir Martin Sorrell, whose [...]
We should roll back the barriers to growth post-Brexit – not employment rights February 13, 2017 For years, some of the people I’ve encountered on the Westminster circuit have argued that one of the principal reasons for the UK to leave the EU is employment law. For this hardy bunch, and their tight circle of business supporters, rolling back employment legislation always seemed to be the answer to everything that ails Britain. [...]
Sports Direct buys 11 per cent share in French Connection February 2, 2017 Sports Direct has bought an 11 per cent of French Connection, a stake that would allow the company to disrupt any buy-out bid for the ailing high street retailer. The move comes at a time of flux for the company, which has been hit by losses for five years. Activist investors have been pushing non-executives [...]
Sports Direct’s pay policy and Mike Ashley’s dominance slammed by key investor February 1, 2017 Beleaguered retailer Sports Direct has been slammed by a top investor over its remuneration policy and founder Mike Ashley's dominance. Standard Life Investments has called for big changes at the retailer in its annual governance report. The asset manager is the fourth largest shareholder in Sports Direct with a 3.5 per cent stake. As at December [...]