Poundland shareholders overwhelmingly give Steinhoff green light for takeover September 7, 2016 Steinhoff International's long-running takeover attempt of Poundland was given the green light today by the discount chain's shareholders, who overwhelmingly backed the deal. At a general meeting at Poundland's head office in Willenhall in the West Midlands, 98.4 per cent of investors approved the South African retail giant's revised offer, which it hiked last month from [...]
Hargreaves Lansdown chief prepares to depart as firm reports Brexit boost September 7, 2016 Market volatility driven by the EU referendum helped boost trading volume for Hargreaves Lansdown during the year to 30 June, the broker said today as it unveiled a bumper set of results. Separately, the company announced this morning that chief executive Ian Gorham will step down no later than 30 September next year. Chief financial officer [...]
The IMF’s Brexit failures were the final straw: It’s time to scrap these inept pundits September 6, 2016 Sports fans will all be familiar with the commentator who almost always gets things wrong. “Arsenal are very much on top here” he – it is invariably a “he” – will pronounce, or “Root is looking very settled”, only for the opposition to score a goal immediately and for the Yorkshireman to be clean bowled. [...]
Gatwick says bumper passenger numbers make case for second runway September 5, 2016 Gatwick Airport said that breaking records for passenger numbers underpinned the case for expansion at Britain’s second largest airport. Both the month of and year to August smashed previous highs – 4.8m passengers filed through the airport taking the annual number of passengers up to 42m, up 6.4 per cent on the previous year. “We’re expansion [...]
Vera Bradley shares climb on expectation beating earnings and licensing agreements September 1, 2016 US luxury handbag and accessories maker Vera Bradley has posted a solid performance, despite the strong dollar causing problems for other high-end retailers. Shares climbed by more than three per cent following the US market open in New York, though are down some five per cent in the year to date. Net revenues totalled $119.2m (£89.8m) for the second quarter [...]
Consumer confidence jumped up last month as shoppers refused to stay indoors during the summer heat August 31, 2016 Consumer confidence has bounced back from a post-referendum dip, with Brits determined to “carry on shopping” in August. The closely-watched GfK consumer confidence index rose by five points in August, up from minus 12 in July to minus seven – with all the measures used to compile the index going up. Respondents' confidence about the general economy improved [...]
Recruitment stays steady following referendum, but salaries on offer take a knock August 30, 2016 Professional hiring has remained sturdy despite the referendum result, but salaries on offer are no longer so favourable, figures out today show. The Association of Professional Staffing Companies (Apsco) study found permanent vacancies inched up by 0.2 per cent in July compared with the year before, although contract vacancies dipped by two per cent. However, the [...]
There’s a new London Tube map showing your steps between stations August 29, 2016 A new map of the London Underground has been created to show travellers exactly how close stations are in the centre of the capital and get them walking across the city instead. The map shows the number of steps between the stations across zones one and two, demonstrating how locations such as Charing Cross Station and [...]
Sterling nears three-week high on strong data August 26, 2016 Sterling hovered near a three-week high against the dollar this morning, after receiving a boost from strong economic data which showed investment was moving in the right direction. The pound was on track for its best weekly performance in six weeks against the euro, having hit a two-week high on Wednesday, although at pixel time [...]
GMB union goes to war with Addison Lee over driver dismissals August 25, 2016 The GMB union has launched legal action against London private car hire company Addison Lee over the dismissal of three drivers. The challenge – which relates to contracts that were terminated earlier this year – is understood to be a test case for the union which could lead to action against hundreds of former drivers. The drivers were dismissed following protests [...]