Meet Shein: The secretive Chinese fast-fashion firm taking over online retail July 27, 2021 Taking the Tube at the minute can still, at times, feel like time travel. Around you are slightly tattered posters for theatre productions that haven’t been on stage for more than a year; ads for movies touted for cinema release that ended up quietly released to Netflix with little fanfare. Amongst these relics of a [...]
UK retail industry kicks reliance on alcohol and tobacco sales July 27, 2021 Britain’s retail industry has kicked the habit of relying on alcohol and tobacco sales to generate income, according to a new study published today. The Office for National Statistics estimates that the volume of alcohol and tobacco sales has plummeted 76 per cent over the last three decades. Read more: Euro 2020 pushes retail sales [...]
Mirror publisher Reach restores dividend amid digital push July 27, 2021 Newspaper publisher Reach today restored its dividend after strong growth in its digital offering helped drive the group’s recovery after a torrid pandemic year. Reach, which owns the Mirror and Express as well as a number of regional titles, posted a four per cent rise in revenue to £302.3m in the six months to 27 [...]
Housing fraud trial: Poplar and Limehouse MP Apsana Begum breaks down in court July 26, 2021 A Labour MP accused of housing fraud wept in court today as she described the “traumatic” moment she called police and fled her family home after an argument with her brother during which he claimed she was possessed. Apsana Begum, 31, who is on trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court, said she went to a police [...]
Evening Read: Reimagining and simplifying the workforce after the pandemic July 26, 2021 It’s no surprise that some business leaders, as a result of the pandemic, are having to re-examine parts of their business and many crave new perspectives. Even when businesses try to return to work as usual’, the concept of a 9-5 job in an office will probably for many be a relic from a different [...]
Amazon plans to accept Bitcoin payments while institutional investors show interest July 26, 2021 CryptoCompare data shows the price of Bitcoin (BTC) started the week at $31,000 and quickly fell below its support at $30,000 before recovering and slowly climbing upward over the last few days.
Work from home isn’t flexible work if it’s the only choice you have – and it’s failing young people July 26, 2021 When a group of teenagers are told to dress smartly for a first event at a city firm, what they wear tends to vary hugely. Some go for a full suit and tie; some for their school shirt or blouse with trousers. There are shoes and trainers, long skirts and short ones and coats and earphones that sometimes stay [...]
The wellness tax: providing healthy meals and fitness classes for staff should be tax-free for employers July 25, 2021 Over the last 18 months, we’ve heard a lot about the impact of the pandemic on mental health, and with good reason. According to the Office for National Statistics, around 1 in 5 adults experience some form of depression in early 2021 – more than double the number before the pandemic. More than half of [...]
Spider-Man loses it: Five people arrested after violent incident at Asda in Clapham July 24, 2021 Five people have been arrested after a violent incident in a London supermarket. Police were called to Asda on Lavender Hill near Clapham Junction at 10.40pm on Thursday evening to reports of a group of people involved in a disturbance. Video footage posted on social media shows a woman staff member being kicked in the [...]
Tech stocks lead gains on Wall Street July 23, 2021 US stocks opened up on Friday morning driven by a rally among megacap technology shares. The blue-chip S&P 500 rose 0.54 per cent during the opening session. The Dow Jones increased 0.41 per cent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq was up 0.4 per cent. Investors piled into tech stocks after a string of strong earnings were [...]