Ranked: The UK’s fastest growing companies for brand value September 11, 2019 Deliveroo, Costa Coffee and Brewdog are growing in value faster than any other UK brands, according to a survey published today. The food delivery app topped the list, increasing its value 54 per cent to $1.4bn (£1.1bn), while coffee chain Costa jumped 48 per cent to $1.5bn, boosted by its takeover by Coca Cola. Read [...]
Investment in vegetarian firm helps Hilton Food serve up higher profit September 10, 2019 Food processing and packaging firm Hilton Food Group has reported increased profit for the first half, helped by a deal with a manufacturer of vegetarian and vegan foods. The figures Hilton reported a 10.6 per cent increase in profit before tax for the first half of 2019. Revenue grew 5.6 per cent to £912.1m – [...]
Lloyds suspends share buyback as PPI costs rise to £1.8bn September 9, 2019 Lloyds Banking Group has warned its costs relating to mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI) could hit an additional £1.8bn after a rush of claims before the 29 August deadline. The bank had previously forecast costs of just under £1.1bn, based on a claims rate of 190,000 per week. Read more: Tesco sells mortgage arm to [...]
Sainsbury’s planning major changes to struggling bank arm September 8, 2019 Sainsbury’s is plotting a radical overhaul of its loss-making banking arm as it reconsiders its business model in the wake of its failed merger with Asda. Read more: Sainsbury’s partners with Deliveroo on pizza takeaway service The household name is weighing up its options ahead of a meeting with investors in two weeks’ time. The [...]
Boden CEO steps down as retailer warns of tough year ahead September 5, 2019 Boden chief executive Jill Easterbrook has quit after three years in the role, the retailer announced today, as the fashion brand warned 2019 profit would take a hit from investment in its multi-channel offering. Easterbrook, a former executive at Tesco, will step down at the end of the year to develop a non-executive director portfolio, [...]
Tesco Bank sells 23,000-customer mortgage arm to Lloyds Banking Group for £3.8bn September 3, 2019 Tesco Bank has sold its mortgage business to Lloyds Banking Group for £3.8bn, in a move which will see its 23,000 customers switched to a new provider. The retail giant ceased all lending on its mortgages in May, as it announced it was trying to hive off its ledger book. Tesco, which said the portfolio [...]
Sterling sinks after ‘simply shocking’ UK manufacturing data September 2, 2019 Sterling plummeted against the euro and the dollar in response to weak UK manufacturing data as economists warned “there is no clarity whatsoever” surround Brexit. Markets panicked as figures showed output from the UK manufacturing sector sank to a seven-year low in August, sending the pound down against major currencies. Read more: UK manufacturing output [...]
Williams Formula One team owner considering sale of engineering arm August 31, 2019 The owner of the Williams Formula One team, Williams Grand Prix Holdings, is exploring the possibility of selling its engineering arm. The company has been approached by several parties looking to acquire Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE) and a sale could raise tens of millions of pounds for the racing team, according to Sky News. Read [...]
City Moves for 23 August – Who’s switching jobs at Oxford Properties, WH Ireland and Mediconnect? August 23, 2019 Today’s City Moves includes Oxford Properties, WH Ireland and Mediconnect. Oxford Properties Global real estate investor, developer and manager Oxford Properties Group, has announced a series of changes to its leadership team and the appointment of Dean Hopkins as chief operations officer. The changes come at a time of rapid worldwide growth for Oxford, which [...]
Going to party like it’s 1919: Time to celebrate the centenary of some of the UK’s most important companies August 21, 2019 This coming Sunday marks the centenary of an important anniversary. On 25 August 1919, the world’s first daily international scheduled flight took place. There was only one passenger on board the flight between London and Paris, along with cargo which included newspapers, Devonshire cream, jam, and grouse. The carrier was Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited, [...]