How to prepare your portfolio for inflation December 2, 2016 Concerns about inflation were already on the rise. Donald Trump’s victory in the US election has further stoked expectations that price pressure, absent in most Western economies since the financial crisis, may make a return in 2017 and beyond. The basics Inflation is a measure of how fast the prices of goods and services are [...]
British industrial veteran enters race for Tata chairman top job November 29, 2016 Sir George Buckley, the chairman of FTSE-100 engineer Smiths Group, could be appointed chairman at Indian conglomerate Tata. Sky News reported that last night that Buckley has been approached about replacing Cyrus Mistry, who was ousted from the chairmanship of Tata Sons last month – before getting in to a public spat with Tata executives. Sir [...]
Accenture has just bought one of London’s hottest ad agencies November 29, 2016 Accenture's getting into trendy ads, it seems – after it bought Karmarama, one of London's hottest ad agencies. The company, known as much for its achingly trendy office as it is for its campaigns for the likes of the BBC, Confused.com, Honda, Just Eat and Unilever, has a team of 250 employees. The consultancy said [...]
Marmite owner Unilever vows to appeal €590m Brazilian tax ruling November 25, 2016 Unilever's share price fell during mid-morning trading after revealing it had received an "adverse judgement" from Brazilian courts in relation to a €590m (£504m) indirect tax case. The Anglo-Dutch consumer giant warned in October that a case in Brazil was ongoing, although it stressed "we continue to believe that our case is strong". Read more: Was Marmite-gate [...]
Eh? Rolls-Royce and Game are among the 25 best UK companies to work for. Supposedly. November 23, 2016 An engineering giant which has issued a string of profit warnings, two retailers which recently came out of administration and a bank which was the centre of a major scandal this year are among UK employees' 25 favourite companies to work for, according to new research. Rolls-Royce came top of jobsite Indeed's Top Employers in Britain list. The [...]
#Marmitegate: Tesco boss warns suppliers against hiking prices November 18, 2016 Tesco's chief executive Dave Lewis has told suppliers not to up prices due to sterling's slide following the Brexit vote. Lewis recently went to war with Unilever after the supplier tried to increase the price of popular goods such as Marmite and PG Tips by 10 per cent. Read more: Marmite peace settlement sends Tesco to the [...]
Inflation reaches two year high, as economists warn that the days of cheap food are over November 14, 2016 Inflation is set to reach a two-year high of 1.2 per cent this week, as consumers feel the effect of rising food costs and the weaker pound. Economists have predicted that inflation will continue to trend up over the next year, above the two per cent target set by the Bank of England. In fact, [...]
Businesses are unwittingly entering the political fray with post-Brexit price rises November 10, 2016 More businesses are justifying price rises by blaming the fall in the pound post-Brexit. Whatever their commercial reasons, this is an extremely dangerous game. Commenting in these ways means entering the political arena at a sensitive time. These firms should be ready for serious scrutiny and hostile comment – now, but more importantly in the [...]
Toblerone bars in the UK have changed shape and no one is happy about it November 8, 2016 Fans of the Toblerone are bitterly disappointed after the company revealed a change to the shape and size of its popular chocolate bar. Mondelez International, who makes the product, has increased the gaps between the triangles to reduce the weight of two of its bars in the UK. It claims this is due to a rise in [...]
Supply chain risk up due to post-Brexit uncertainty November 7, 2016 Global supply chain risk grew for the fourth quarter in a row to its highest level since 2013 as a result of the Brexit vote, and increased trade restrictions around the world. Analysis by the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) and Dun & Bradstreet economists showed a "disintegration of the political consensus over globalisation" with [...]