John Lewis confirms new store for Westfield London November 12, 2013 John Lewis confirmed its plans to open a new store in Shepherd Bush's Westfield shopping mall this afternoon. The four-storey store will be the partnership's fifth in London, will cover 230,000 sq ft and is expected to create 600 new jobs when it opens in 2017. The shop will stock over 350,000 lines and include an [...]
FTSE 100 weighed down by record £6.4bn Tesco loss April 22, 2015 The largest full-year loss ever felt by a British retailer unsurprisingly made a dent on the FTSE 100 on Wednesday, as shares in Tesco fell by 5.5 per cent. The embattled supermarket was the biggest faller on the FTSE after reporting an annual loss of £6.4bn – a "difficult year" in the words of chief [...]
Tesco loses more market share as supermarket sector slows to record low September 23, 2014 Growth in the supermarket sector has slowed to an all-time low, with Tesco once again losing market share to Asda, Aldi and Lidl. The troubled supermarket, which yesterday revealed a £250m black hole in its profits, saw its market share drop 4.5 per cent in the 12 weeks to September 14. During the [...]
Warm welcome for Rolls-Royce chief executive April 22, 2015 SHARES in engineering company Rolls-Royce jumped by 4.07 per cent yesterday after it announced that chief executive John Rishton is to be replaced by tech veteran Warren East. Rishton is retiring, with effect from 2 July, after deciding “it is time for a change in lifestyle”. East, who previously led software company Arm Holdings, has [...]
Ex-Ofcom boss Dame Colette Bowe hired to keep tabs on bankers October 9, 2014 Dame Colette Bowe was appointed yesterday to head the new Banking Standards Review Council (BSRC), a body which aims to promote and maintain good behaviour in finance. The council was set up by former CBI chief Sir Richard Lambert, at the behest of the big banks, as an independent body to monitor behaviour in [...]
Tesco racks up record £6.38bn loss in worst year in supermarket’s history April 22, 2015 Tesco has racked up a £6.38bn loss – the worst year in the supermarket's 96-year history. It's one of the biggest losses ever made by a UK company, and the biggest ever made by a British retailer. The beleaguered supermarket's pre-tax losses for the year are even higher than the £5bn markets had been expecting. One-off [...]
Carve Tesco into three, says former director August 26, 2014 A former Tesco executive has called for the business to be radically restructured by its incoming boss, creating three separate entities. Bruno Monteyne, an analyst at Bernstein Research and previously Tesco.com's development director, has argued that carving the supermarket up could be the only way to halt its decline. He suggests dividing it [...]
Scottish independence: Boost for No as Alex Salmond’s economic plan torn apart September 11, 2014 An influential thinktank yesterday tore apart Alex Salmond’s economic plan for an independent Scotland, warning that a Yes vote will make it harder to protect public spending from cuts. The blow to Salmond’s case for independence came as a number of high-profile UK retailers and banks added their names to a growing list citing concerns [...]
Cold snap helps sales warm up at John Lewis November 11, 2013 JOHN LEWIS’ sales jumped seven per cent last week, boosted by the colder weather, which prompted consumers to stock up on warm clothing. The retailer yesterday posted sales of £91m in the week to 9 November, with online sales up by almost a quarter (23.1 per cent), compared with the same time last year. However [...]
Scottish independence: Former Sainsbury’s boss warns of higher prices if there’s a Yes vote September 12, 2014 In a fresh blow for the pro-independence campaign, the former CEO of Sainsbury's Justin King has warned Scots they will pay higher prices in the shops if they vote to abandon the union of 18 September. Speaking to the BBC's Robert Peston, King said: It is more expensive to do business in Scotland today. Business [...]