High street brands popular for legal advice March 15, 2011 WITH the implementation of the “Tesco law” looming, a new report from YouGov into the legal services sector provides positive news for big brands looking to diversify into this sector. It reveals that consumer willingness to seek legal advice from retailers or high street brands is high; 60 per cent of consumers would consider using [...]
The revolution will be beamed into your head March 14, 2011 THE revolution is here and it won’t be televised. It will be beamed directly into your head. It will be everywhere you go, knowing what you are thinking, what you are wearing. It will probably be able to guess what you are going to do next, before even you know it. Welcome to “Gladvertising,” the [...]
Deutsche to advise UKFI March 10, 2011 DEUTSCHE Bank has won the government’s biggest advisory mandate since it bailed out failing banks during the financial crisis, with UK Financial Investments (UKFI) bringing the bank on board to secure the privatisation of Northern Rock. UKFI, which manages the government’s stake in nationalised banks, chose Deutsche ahead of Morgan Stanley, which had been considered [...]
Morrisons profit up as it unveils share buyback March 10, 2011 Supermarket group Morrisons has reported a rise in annual profit and issued details o f a share buyback plan. The company announced a pre-tax profit of £874m for the 12 months to the end of January, up from the £858m it made in the same period a year ago. Like-for-like sales, excluding fuel and VAT, [...]
Why filling in the census improves your life March 9, 2011 SO, how old are you? Have you ever been married? Who do you live with? Do you have a mortgage? How many bedrooms do you have? What religion are you? Yes, it might feel like Big Brother plopped on our doormats this week. The 2011 census asks questions that probably many of us would find [...]
Lloyds TSB unveils 5.5 per cent bond for retail investors March 8, 2011 LLOYDS TSB launched a five-year corporate bond for retail investors yesterday, following its first offering to private bond investors last June. The bonds will pay 5.5 per cent interest at a fixed rate until the notes mature in September 2016. Lloyds and Royal Bank of Canada are underwriting the scheme. Lloyds expects to raise at [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 6, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES TESCO PUSH ON MUSIC GROUPS’ CD DEALS Tesco is pushing music companies to accept minimal upfront payments for the compact discs they ship to the Uk retailer, in a renegotiation that will test how record labels’ bargaining power has diminished in line with shoppers’ interest in CDs. Instead of paying £7 or £8 [...]
John Lewis issues £50m retail bond March 6, 2011 THE John Lewis Partnership has issued a retail bond for its cardholders and Partners in a bid to raise £50m of funds by April. Customers who hold either the Partnership or Account cards, as well as current Partners in the employee-owned firm, can invest lump sums of between £1,000 and £10,000 into the John Lewis [...]
Tesco backs Fresh & Easy March 3, 2011 TESCO’S new chief executive Philip Clarke is to continue the US expansion strategy of his predecessor Sir Terry Leahy despite ongoing losses in the market, the group said yesterday. Tesco said its Fresh & Easy brand was opening two new stores in California with a further ten due to open across the state before the [...]
Why gazelles and giants both matter March 1, 2011 SHOULD you work for a big company or a small one? To me, the answer is simple: the smaller, nimbler and the more entrepreneurial the firm, the better. But as figures out yesterday demonstrate, there is a reason why many people would prefer to work for larger institutions. The top 100 firms in the UK [...]