Travis Perkins plans 400 new stores as housing market grows March 19, 2015 Travis Perkins has announced plans to create 4,000 jobs by opening 400 new branches across the UK over the next four years. The majority of the positions will be outside London and the south east and consist of apprenticeships for younger people, branch managers, assistant managers, skilled IT professionals and supply chain specialists. The builders’ [...]
Andrew Haldane: Bank of England must “stand ready” to cut interest rates if outlook for deflation markedly worsens March 19, 2015 The Bank of England's chief economist has said it must "stands ready" to cut record-low interest rates further, if the risk of the economy falling into a prolonged period of deflation intensifies. "In my view, that means policy needs to stand ready to move off either foot in the period ahead to meet the symmetric [...]
Most consumers aren’t feeling the benefits of Osborne’s recovery March 19, 2015 George Osborne used yesterday's Budget to trumpet the government's economic record. With a dramatic fall in unemployment, respectable economic growth and low inflation, the Conservatives believe they have strong record to run on. Osborne labelled Britain the "comeback country" and said the government had brought the UK back from the brink. But how many consumers [...]
Liam Fox: Tories should freeze all spending except defence and health March 19, 2015 George Osborne should freeze all non-discretionary spending in the next parliament and "share the proceeds of growth" between tax cuts and deficit reduction. So said the former defence secretary and backbench Tory MP Liam Fox this morning. The former Conservative leadership contender flipped the phrase once used by David Cameron to argue that tax revenue [...]
Homebase snaps up former Tesco exec Echo Lu March 19, 2015 DIY chain Homebase has poaches its latest managing director from the embattled supermarket Tesco. Echo Lu, who was previously head of group business planning and insight at Tesco, will join on April 20. John Walden, chief executive of Home Retail Group, said. Echo has significant, broad-based retail experience both in the UK and the rapidly evolving [...]
Profits dive 73 per cent at Angry Birds maker Rovio, but new 3D film could lead to a second lift-off March 19, 2015 The popularity of Angry Birds has well and truly waned. Rovio Entertainment, the Finnish company behind the video game that soared to success after its launch in 2009, experienced a 73 per cent drop in operating profits to €10m (£7.2m) last year, along with a nine per cent drop in total sales. By comparison, profits [...]
European markets rise as Fed loses patience March 19, 2015 European markets rose this morning, despite last night's indication from the US Federal Reserve that it could begin to raise interest rates over the coming months. In a statement following a meeting of the Federal Open Markets Committee last night, Fed chief Janet Yellen dropped the word "patience" from the wording of her statement, indicating [...]
One chart showing how much the finance sector dominates the FTSE 100 March 19, 2015 The FTSE 100 is dominated by companies in the financial and retail sectors, with these making up 43 per cent of the UK’s top companies. There are 23 FTSE 100 companies in the financials sector – which includes 10 in insurance and five in banking. The largest of these companies is HSBC, with a market [...]
Ted Baker sales and profits driven up by strong performance in Europe and the US March 19, 2015 Ted Baker grew in its established markets last year, and expanded to new areas. The figures During the 53 weeks to 31 January, Ted Baker's retail sales rose 18.4 per cent to £306.9m, while pre-tax profits jumped to £49.5m – 20.4 per cent higher than in 2013. This exceeded the British fashion brand's expected profit [...]
Next share price falls after it cautions over year ahead March 19, 2015 The figures Next said that total sales for the year to the end of January rose seven per cent to £4bn, up from £3.7bn a year earlier. Pre-tax profit jumped 12.5 per cent to £782.2m, up from £695.2m a year earlier. This was at the upper end of expectations set in December which forecast full-year pre-tax [...]