After the EU’s O2-Three merger decision, five questions for the UK mobile market May 11, 2016 Hutchison’s bid for O2 has been turned down in Europe. Here are five questions the UK mobile market is asking today Continued competition… Ofcom initially rejected the merger based on evidence that fewer competitors results in less pressure to keep prices down. It’s that same fear which informed today’s decision, despite assurances from Hutchison of a five year [...]
Visa Europe records three billion contactless payments over the last 12 months May 10, 2016 Card company Visa has recorded three billion contactless transactions in Europe over the past year. In April alone, European consumers used their cards 360m times, clocking in at almost 140 transactions per second. Contactless now accounts for one in every five Visa card payments in Europe, up from one in 60 in 2013. In the [...]
Unruly founder crowned winner at Oscars for women in business… but beware the awards curse May 9, 2016 Sarah Wood, the founder of Unruly, triumphed at last night's Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Awards. Touted as the Oscars for women in business, Wood fought off competition from Trainline chief Claire Gilmartin and British make-up artist and cosmetic firm founder Charlotte Tilbury to win the award. Cassandra Stavrou, founder and chief executive of Propercorn, meanwhile, [...]
Post Office apologises after major glitch shuts down counter services across the country May 9, 2016 A major technical glitch meant thousands of people were turned away at Post Office branches around the country today. Customers hoping to pay bills, post packages or collect benefits claimed the outage was affecting branches nationwide, with many saying they had tried a number of branches before giving up, but the group insisted it was only [...]
Can you blame employers for cutting benefits and perks because of the National Living Wage? May 9, 2016 Since the introduction on 1 April 2016 of the National Living Wage (NLW) there’ve been plenty of employers in the news for making cuts to staff perks. Le Pain Quotidian, Zizzi, Caffe Nero, Eat, Tesco, the John Lewis Partnership and B&Q have all cut back on certain benefits. Most of these businesses have denied that the changes are being introduced because of the NLW, but either [...]
Carry on shopping: Alibaba defies China slowdown with fourth quarter revenue May 5, 2016 Alibaba, the Chinese ecommerce giant, has defied the country's economic slowdown, reporting expectation-busting revenue. The Amazon of China's sales rose 39 per cent in the fourth quarter to 24.2bn yuan (£2.55bn) smashing estimates of around 23bn yuan, while income came in at 5.3bn yuan, a rise of 81 per cent. "Whatever they are doing must be working, and [...]
At the close: One-way traffic on the FTSE 100 as miners and supermarkets drag it down May 4, 2016 Sunshine may be sweeping the capital, but the stock markets are still feeling down, as the FTSE 100 sunk to a four-week low. Closing down 1.2 per cent at 6,112.02, the FTSE 100 has now lost five per cent since it hit 2016 highs back in the middle of April. Miners dug themselves into a hole as [...]
Sales at Asda, Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsbury’s all drop for the first time in a year May 4, 2016 The supermarket sector has suffered yet another setback, with sales at all of the Big Four declining in the last quarter, while – you guessed it – Aldi and Lidl posted double-digit growth. Asda was the poorest performer of the biggest supermarkets, with sales dropping 5.1 per cent according to Kantar Worldpanel, followed by Morrisons, which dropped 2.6 per cent. Sales at Tesco [...]
Sainsbury’s to double the number of click and collect grocery sites as full-year results loom May 3, 2016 Sainsbury's is doubling the number of click & collect sites in its store car parks over the next 12 months to take the total number to 200. The supermarket chain said its "drive thru" service was proving popular with customers as shopping habits change and plans to launch a further 100 sites by May 2017. “We know that time is precious [...]
Procter & Gamble beats expectations but warns over its fourth quarter sending the share price lower April 26, 2016 Procter & Gamble shares dropped in early trading in New York after the company announced third-quarter earnings above estimates, but warned its results in the fourth quarter will be worse than last year. The global consumer goods company, which makes everything from shampoo to toilet paper, said profits rose to $2.75bn (£1.88bn), or 97 cents per share, up from $2.15bn, or 75 [...]