Retail in 2025: The year of personalisation, AI, wellness – and no more barcodes December 24, 2024 2024 has been a tough year for retail. From companies sounding the alarm on business rates in the first half of the year to low consumer confidence and footfall proving stickier than expected, the festive period has now been overshadowed by stark warnings about further cost rises next year. Restructuring partner at RSM UK, Gordon [...]
The class divide: Why social mobility is the missing piece in DEI December 19, 2024 Any DEI framework that’s focused on ethnicity but silent on the messy realities of social mobility risks letting down the very people it’s trying to champion, says Eliza Filby A couple of months ago I was running a workshop for trainees at an international law firm in the UK helping bright Gen Z recruits integrate [...]
Water bills set for hefty hike as Ofwat judgement looms December 18, 2024 The water regulator Ofwat is set to allow bills to rise by at least 21 per cent in the next five years, as part of its long-awaited decision on the financial future of the scandal-hit industry on Thursday. Ofwat will reveal its final determination for how much water firms are allowed to hike their bills [...]
Where’s the Christmas spirit? Gin and beer demand slumps this year December 16, 2024 Demand for spirits and beer has sagged this year as Brits opted for healthier and cheaper alternatives to their traditional tipple, according to new data. A combination of the cost-of-living crisis and government hikes on alcohol duty have pushed some bottles out of reach, with 10 per cent tax hikes pushing up the price of [...]
Cook: ‘Upmarket ready meal business is like a 27-year game of Monopoly’ December 16, 2024 Upmarket ready meal maker Cook has compared its financial position to a near-three decade long game of Monopoly as it hailed being in “the best shape it has been in for a long while”. The Kent-headquartered business said that it if the firm was a 27-year game of Monopoly, “we would now be in a [...]
Vitabiotics: Turnover nears £200m at vitamins giant run by former Dragons’ Den star Tej Lalvani December 16, 2024 Sales at Vitabiotics, the vitamins giant run by former Dragons’ Den star Tej Lalvani, jumped towards the £200m mark during its latest financial year as its profits also increased. The London-headquartered business has reported sales of £196.4m for 2023, according to accounts filed with Companies House long after the 30 September deadline. The new total [...]
A requiem for UK equity capital markets December 14, 2024 London’s storied status as a global financial powerhouse is slipping away, and with every IPO that doesn’t materialise or company that decamps to the US, it becomes clearer that the City is in its death throes, says Owen Matthews As a former mid-cap ECM investment banker, I’ve watched with despair as the lights dim on [...]
Debts to go unpaid after collapse of Simon Rimmer’s restaurant chain December 12, 2024 How much the well-known restaurant chain co-founded by celebrity chef Simon Rimmer owed when it collapsed into administration has been revealed for the first time. Vegetarian restaurant Greens first opened its doors in Didsbury, Manchester, in 1990 but was forced to close in January 2024. That closure was followed by the chain’s other site in [...]
More tickets sold for women’s football than rugby league in 2024 December 12, 2024 Booming interest in women’s football has seen it overtake rugby league for tickets sold in the UK this year, according to new data from agency Two Circles. More than 2.1m fans attended women’s football matches, a 38 per cent increase year-on-year, the 2024 Attendance Review from the sports and entertainment marketing business reveals. That number [...]
Regulators are paying lip service to growth December 12, 2024 “This is not a return to pre-crisis light touch… because frankly that ended in tears.” That was the response of the heads of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) when questioned by MPs about their new growth remit. No one can deny that the 2008 financial crash devastated lives. But the consequences of the low growth [...]