How to build a creative company: Lucky Generals’ Helen Calcraft talks MBAs and 50 Cent October 24, 2016 "It's a quote by Napoleon. He was asked what it takes to win a war and he replied: ‘Bring me your lucky generals’,” says Helen Calcraft. “We liked the idea of being those generals that clients can send into battle and come back with a win.” Her agency, Lucky Generals, has been winning a fair [...]
Pernod Ricard’s share price is up but warns British booze prices may need to go the same way October 20, 2016 Prices of some of Britain's best-loved spirits may be on the rise in coming months after the boss of spirits giant Pernod Ricard (Pernod) confirmed to investors that it would need to "adjust" prices in order to protect margins after sterling's recent slump. Pernod's finance chief, Gilles Bogaert, revealed the plans to increase prices in the UK after the group posted first [...]
The Brexit rally is less fragile than it looks October 19, 2016 The performance of UK shares has generally confounded most strategists. Since the vote to leave the EU in June, UK savers have enjoyed returns of close to 15 per cent. While the weakness of sterling has eaten most of those returns for overseas investors, we are in a much better place than many were predicting in [...]
No, Nick Clegg: A true liberal knows Brexit should slash UK food prices October 17, 2016 So Brexit means more expensive breakfast! Or so Nick Clegg believes. Hanging onto the coattails of last week’s Unilever-Tesco row over who would bear the cost of a falling pound raising food import prices (so-called Marmite-gate), the former Deputy Prime Minister now warns us that milk and cheese will be more expensive as a result [...]
Hard Brexit or soft Brexit, does it matter? October 17, 2016 So is it going to be a “hard” or a “soft” Brexit? Since our new Prime Minister began to lay out her Brexit negotiating stance this question has become a persistent preoccupation, particularly in business circles. To consider the answer we need to separate the politics of hard and soft, from the financial and stock [...]
As Mark Carney warns of troubles ahead, should the Bank of England tolerate rising inflation? October 17, 2016 Scott Corfe, associate director at the Centre for Economics and Business Research, says Yes. Inflation will rise next year, and it is likely to rise sharply as sterling’s remarkable decline feeds through into higher import costs. CPI inflation of 3 per cent is well within the realms of possibility and inflation of 4 per cent – [...]
The UK is facing a “cliff edge” on food prices, according to Nick Clegg October 17, 2016 UK food prices could spike dramatically if the UK quits the Single Market, according to former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg. Clegg, now the EU spokesman for the Lib Dems, says British shoppers will face dramatically increased bills if the UK reverts to World Trade Organization (WTO) rules after Brexit. The UK currently exports £11bn worth of agricultural products to [...]
Sterling slumps and stocks jump to end frantic week of trading October 14, 2016 Financial markets ended the week on a considerably calmer footing than they begun, but five days of big movements have shattered the post-referendum swagger which was creeping back to corners of the City. Sterling finished on the back foot, shedding another 0.6 per cent against the dollar to finish things off below $1.22. However, that [...]
Marmite peace settlement sends Tesco to the top of the FTSE 100 October 14, 2016 Good news about the black stuff has sent the FTSE 100 climbing higher in this morning's trading. Or, to be more precise, good news about the black stuffs. Because while the price of a barrel of Brent Crude oil rose 0.8 per cent to $52.42 this morning, and metals also headed north – good news for [...]
Marmitegate: A typical story of belligerent boardrooms October 14, 2016 Marmitegate – it divided the nation. You might even say it spread fear. Either way, Tesco revealed last night that it has resolved its feud with Unilever, producer of everything from Marmite to Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, after the consumer goods giant tried to impose a blanket 10 per cent price hike on its products due [...]