Selfridges’ tills ring with record full-year profits November 1, 2015 Selfridges has post record profits of £155m for last year as the upmarket department store chain pushed ahead with its online expansion overseas and expanded its UK stores. The retailer, which has just unveiled its famous Christmas window displays on Oxford Street – this year inspired by the 12 signs of the zodiac – said [...]
Wall Street ticks down – New York Report October 29, 2015 The potential for an interest rate hike in December and some disappointing tech earnings reports yesterday hit Wall Street and US stocks ended slightly lower. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 23.72 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 17,755.8, the S&P 500 lost 0.94 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 2,089.41 and the Nasdaq Composite [...]
We need to measure well-being to reverse Britain’s social decline October 29, 2015 It was only two-and-a-half years ago that an economic statistic threatened to kill off George Osborne’s economic strategy. There was speculation that the British economy might have shrunk in the first quarter of 2013. When the Office for National Statistics did announce – at 9.30am on Thursday 25 April (remember how some of us used [...]
Government relinquishes full control of Tower Hamlets – but warns mayor John Biggs that a lapse in management will result in further “action” October 29, 2015 The government is handed control of the governance of Tower Hamlets borough council back to the borough, four months after the last mayoral election. Last November Eric Pickles, communities secretary at the time, had ordered a three-man team of commissioners to take over the handling of grants and property sales, as well as senior appointments or suspensions [...]
British Gas customer login data leaked in third personal data incident in a week after TalkTalk cyber attack and Marks & Spencer technical glitch October 29, 2015 The account details of as many as 2,000 customers of British Gas have been leaked online, in the third high-profile personal data leak in less than a week. Email addresses and passwords to login to British Gas accounts were posted on the text upload website Pastebin, but the company believes the information leak was not as a result of [...]
John Lewis’ Monty the Penguin beats Sainsbury’s, Harvey Nichols, Lidl to be crowned most compelling Christmas 2014 advert October 29, 2015 By now you will have met John Lewis' Monty, unwrapped Lidl's little present and cried over Sainsbury's wartime sharing. But which of these adverts is most likely to make you spend money? Despite the debate around whether Sainsbury's might have stolen John Lewis' crown for creating festive ads guaranteed to get you blubbing, it [...]
Britain isn’t a free market: It’s time to imagine life beyond the state October 28, 2015 One of the most dangerous myths that pervades the political debate today is the idea that “neo-liberalism”, as the left describe it, has a stranglehold over economic policy. Certainly, if we compare the influence of government on our lives today with the early twentieth century, it is very clear that we live in a social [...]
Lloyds Banking Group’s share price falls as it reports 28 per cent increase in profits before tax as PPI lingers on October 28, 2015 Lloyds Banking Group's share price was down 4.7 per cent at 73.7p in early trading as it revealed a large rise in pre-tax profits, but a higher-than-expected drop in underlying profits, despite a fall in costs. The figures The banking group posted a 28 per cent increase in profits before tax for the third quarter, up [...]
Morrisons staff to sue after disgruntled colleague Andrew Skelton posted bank, salary and National Insurance details online October 27, 2015 Morrisons staff are planning to sue the supermarket after a data leak led to personal details of almost 100,000 employees being posted online by "a former colleague with a grudge". Bank, salary and National Insurance details were posted by Andrew Skelton, a senior internal auditor at Morrisons' Bradford head office, on data sharing websites after being disciplined [...]
Facebook shares have tipped over $100 a share for the first time ever October 23, 2015 Facebook shares have edged over the $100 per share mark for the first time ever today. Shares were trading 1.03 per cent up at $100.70 per share in mid-morning trading in New York. Earlier in the day Facebook's stock rose 2.5 per cent to $102.15 per share. Facebook's IPO price was $38 a share. Read more: Facebook's iOS app is [...]