High spending Brits boost Tui Travel’s profits December 10, 2013 TUI TRAVEL posted better than expected profits yesterday thanks to strong sales of more expensive holidays to British and German customers. The travel operator behind Thomson and First Choice holiday brands posted a 13 per cent rise in underlying operating profit to £555m for the year to 30 September driven by the growing popularity of [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 10 December 2013 December 9, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Home Secretary criticised for red tape Theresa May has been accused by cabinet colleagues of undermining the government’s pro-business agenda by refusing to cut red tape in the Home Office. The Home Secretary was sent a “scathing letter” late last month by Michael Fallon, the Conservative business minister, and Vince Cable, the Liberal [...]
Two heads for heights at Smith & Williamson December 8, 2013 The accountant and investment manager duo who are on the hunt for growth tell Marion Dakers about their long-term plans SMITH & Williamson (S&W) is keen to get away from its reputation as investment’s “best kept secret” – even if it’s a name the firm has used to describe its own services. From a quiet [...]
It’s time to break the Whitehall silo and put startup discipline into government December 3, 2013 THE CURSE of Norman Lamont makes politicians wary of mentioning the “green shoots” of recovery. But when the data show growth of 0.4 per cent, 0.7 per cent and 0.8 per cent in the first three quarters of 2013, it’s clear. The UK is off life support. Sure, the recovery is heavily consumption-led, with exports [...]
City A.M.’s bumper Autumn Statement preview December 3, 2013 As chancellor George Osborne gets set to unveil this year's Autumn statement on Thursday, we've pulled together all the expected announcements, and what others are hoping for. Ladbrokes have 11/5 odds on the speech to run for 45 to 50 minutes (it's scheduled to start at 11.15am). You'll get 6/4 odds on the speech running [...]
Greene King serves up healthy profits as sales rise December 3, 2013 Pub retailer Greene King has posted solid profits and rising sales for the six months to 13 October. The company recorded a rise in pre-tax profit of 5.7 per cent to £85.6m while total revenue rose 5.2 per cent to £595.4m. Strong growth in key areas such as food helped drive like-for-like retail sales up 3.5 [...]
It’s a tough job but someone has got to do it December 1, 2013 The new boss of recruiter SThree tells Marion Dakers how his diverse business is navigating through the economic recovery AS THE festive party season rolls around again, staff at SThree will be looking forward to the office get-together more than most. Over the last few years, the white-collar recruiter has used its annual bash in [...]
The retail champion who puts fame after business December 1, 2013 Annabel Palmer talks T-shirts and Small Business Saturday with Made in Chelsea’s Oliver Proudlock THE SERGE DeNimes headquarters is a cosy studio-cum-office, located exactly where you would expect for a business whose founder has found fame on Channel 4’s hugely-successful reality TV show Made In Chelsea. I’m hesitant about interviewing Oliver Proudlock, who, when not [...]
German spending slides on post-election uncertainty November 29, 2013 Retail sales fell for the second month in a row in Germany, declining 0.8 per cent in October and missing expectations of a 0.5 per cent rise. September's decrease was revised from 0.4 per cent to 0.2 per cent. The latest numbers see a year-on-year decrease of 0.2 per cent, following expectations of a [...]
Bottom Line: Hard work starts now results are delivered November 27, 2013 VINCE Cable is right: it’s probably too soon to be booking losses on behalf of the taxpayer for the Royal Mail share sale. The stock rose yet again yesterday, with investors impressed by a set of results that delivered but did not beat forecasts. However the Royal Mail’s bankers handled the float, at least the [...]