John Lewis misses festive sales target as turnaround falters January 31, 2025 Sales at John Lewis are reported to have fallen short over the key Christmas trading period as middle-class Brits increasingly switch to shops like Marks and Spencer. According to reports from the Daily Telegraph, sales at Waitrose similarly missed targets. The employee-owned John Lewis Partnership (JLP) blamed “lower consumer confidence and weaker than expected market confidence” for [...]
7 incredible places for food and wine in South Africa January 30, 2025 A culinary cruise around South Africa, with our restaurant columnist Martin Williams As a restaurateur, January is the perfect time of year to take a holiday; exhausted from the efforts put in to maximise Christmas business. As an entrepreneur with M, and whilst leading Gaucho, it’s a period when, after setting objectives for the months [...]
What you should be pouring in time for the Six Nations January 28, 2025 IT SEEMS like every retired Rugby player has a keen interest in wine. Former England player Andrew Sheridan achieved a wine Diploma and filmed a series with me in the Rhone; Brian Moore became a wine writer and critic; Mike Tindall launched The Rugby Wine Club; and Joe Marler had me on his podcast, Things [...]
Deliveroo: Push into retail and groceries drives growth January 16, 2025 Deliveroo has said its retail and grocery partnerships drove growth in the last quarter of the year despite a still-tough trading environment. Its share price rose nearly five per cent in early trades. The delivery company launched its on-demand grocery service in March 2020, and has since partnered with a range of brands, with companies [...]
Wine without the Snobbery January 7, 2025 JANUARY always feels a rather grim time to decide to go “dry”. I feel no reason to punish myself for enjoying the indulgences of festive season and besides, being a wine writer and consultant, I would be out of a job. I do however like to embrace the “damp lifestyle” and over the years have [...]
Why Dry January is just another month for this alcohol-free beer brand January 3, 2025 Highlighting a year of growth, we take a look at some of the biggest and most recent achievements of the rapidly-growing alcohol-free beer brand, Days Brewing. Two friends, one pandemic and a few cold (alcohol-free) beers later – a long-lasting business was created. In 2020, former AB InBev man Mike Gammell and ex-Propercorn marketing chief [...]
Square Mile and me: Co-founder of Wildfarmed Edd Lees December 19, 2024 Each week we dig into the memory bank of the City’s great and good. Today, Edd Lees, takes us through his career which went from finance to farming What was your first job? Working on a stall in Leeds market. What was your first role in the city/business world? Junior in a derivatives trading firm immediately [...]
Wine Without The Snobbery December 17, 2024 THE festive season is expensive, but your wine can still deliver deliciousness without curtailing your Christmas spirit – it is simply a case of knowing where to look to find those affordable gems. Celebration means sparkling, but buying Champagne can be a little like paying for a Tiffany’s diamond, there is a cost tied up [...]
Only the most ‘robust and resilient’ will survive post-Budget blues December 10, 2024 Jennifer Sieg meets Joanna Jensen, serial entrepreneur and founder of family skincare brand Childs Farm, to discuss all things business, investment and start-up trends If you are not prepared to make big personal sacrifices to boost your returns or retain your staff, you might not want to start a business anytime soon. This is the [...]
M&S and Waitrose meal deal maker Greencore rebuilds profits December 3, 2024 Food manufacturer Greencore has experienced a “stronger than expected” year of trade as the meal deal producer rebuilds profitability ahead of 2025. The Irish business, which supplies sandwiches and sushi to the likes of M&S and Waitrose, told markets this morning that like-for-like sales jumped from 29.7 per cent to 33.2 per cent in the [...]