Exclusive: Virgin Media O2’s business chief on the £31bn mega merger that dazzled the City January 13, 2023 As the UK is in the midst of a merciless recession, with the cost-of-living crisis raging, businesses are scrambling to cut costs, maintain market share and find a way to get through the economic misery. The telecoms sector is no exception. Time for City A.M. to catch up with Jo Bertram, managing director of Virgin Media [...]
FTSE 100 close: ASOS and Centrica pop to crystalise strong start to 2023 January 12, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 built on gains yesterday that propelled to its highest level since 2018 after a series of British bellwether retailers posted a decent set of results this morning and the owner of British Gas skyrocketed. The capital’s premier index closed up 0.89 per cent at 7,794.04 points, while the domestically-focused, mid-cap FTSE 250 [...]
Marks & Spencer’s top 10 festive favourites: slow-cooked turkey, shortbread snow globes, light-up gin and shapewear to hold it in! January 12, 2023 Marks and Spencer saw a record Christmas trade during the latest festive period, with a record £80m sales alone on 23 December, the last Friday before Christmas. Incoming CEO Stuart Machin can also take comfort in a 7.2 per cent rise in the clothing and home category to £3.6bn. But it was the retailer’s Christmas [...]
The Gym Group: Brits ditch the pennies and the £s as more fitness fanatics seek cheaper gym membership January 12, 2023 The Gym Group today said it has continued to win over customers in the face of the UK’s cost-of-living crisis as Brits flocked to the low-cost gym in seeking out better “value for money”. The low-cost gym owner said it had increased its membership numbers by 14.3 per cent over the past year, to 821,000, [...]
Exclusive: City asset finance chief on how to stay calm amid eye-watering inflation January 12, 2023 Inflation numbers hit record levels in 2022, while the cost of living crisis raged and interest rates went through the roof. Without a doubt, it was – and continues to be – a turbulent and uncertain time for many players in the City and beyond. Time for City A.M. to catch up with Mike Randall, [...]
Tesco: Bumper Christmas sales will put shares in the spotlight this morning January 12, 2023 TESCO enjoyed a bumper Christmas period, it told markets this morning, with like-for-like sales up nearly 8 per cent despite bruising economic headwinds. The supermarket told markets this morning it had seen customers switching to Tesco across December. The boost meant revenues hit a cool £19.7bn in the UK and Ireland for the quarter to [...]
Exclusive: High Street queen Mary Portas says retail’s 2022 race to the bottom is finally over January 12, 2023 City A.M. sits down with the 'Queen of retail', or Madam High Street, retail consultant and broadcaster Mary Portas.
Staggering £25bn down the drain as 9 in 10 Brits plan to cut back in 2023 January 12, 2023 Close to £25bn-worth of discretionary outgoings in the “cut-back economy” may be lost this year as close to nine in 10 people plan to reduce their spending over the year ahead. More than a third of UK households are “financially distressed” and plan to cut back across most, if not all, of their non-essential spending, [...]
Mark Kleinman: My bold predictions for 2023 in the City – from Natwest to Spurs January 11, 2023 After the political and economic events of 2022, the idea of being able to predict anything with confidence seems even more outlandish than usual. Nevertheless, with the UK economy precariously balanced less than two years before a general election, these seem – in early January – to be sensible bets for UK plc in 2023. [...]
Global cost-of-living crisis risks ‘dire consequences’ for planet as firms ditch climate concerns January 11, 2023 The global cost-of-living crisis threatens to railroad efforts to combat climate change, “potentially leading to dire planetary and societal consequences,” the World Economic Forum (WEF) warned today. Soaring energy and food prices are forcing governments and private businesses to turn to cheaper, often dirtier resources to produce goods and services. As a result, “the risks [...]