Four challenges Sharon White must address at John Lewis January 9, 2020 Incoming John Lewis Partnership boss Sharon White will have a big job on her hands when she joins the retailer next month, as this morning’s trading update showed. The department store issued a profit warning today and made the surprise announcement that John Lewis managing director Paula Nickolds will leave the partnership in February. It [...]
London’s Indian summer: How a new generation of restaurants shook up the food scene July 24, 2019 You could spend a year’s worth of Friday nights eating out at London’s upmarket Indian restaurants and still have a few left over to carry into January. The capital is crammed so full of Kashmiri morels and quail naans there’s barely room for kulfi. The last couple of years have seen critical and popular success [...]
Fitness advice: Why it’s great to be selfish October 3, 2019 Forget everything Barney the Dinosaur taught you: it’s good to be selfish. We spend so much time living our lives for other people when the one person you should be focusing on is yourself, and by turning your attention inwards you’ll actually start to benefit those around you. We can start with your health. The [...]
Inside Amazon’s Black Friday operations hub: How the e-commerce giant prepares for its busiest day of the year November 29, 2019 Where could be a better place to witness the behind-the-scenes impact of Black Friday than at the heart of Amazon’s UK warehouse operations? Some of the credit – or perhaps, blame – for the annual shopping event’s popularity in Britain surely lies with the US e-commerce giant. The fulfilment centre – which is the size [...]
DUP’s Sammy Wilson warns Westminster that Northern Ireland will have its voice heard loud and clear in Brexit negotiations November 24, 2019 Boris Johnson may be going all-in to get a Conservative majority this election, but the jury is very much still out as to whether he will achieve his aim. Many in Westminster believe that despite the polling numbers, come the morning of 13 December the country will find itself saddled with yet another hung parliament. [...]
Swim with manta rays and dine on lobster curries at the Maldivian island resort of Vakkaru March 3, 2020 Any island resort staffer can say “welcome to paradise”, but when it comes from a seaplane pilot with no shoes on it feels more like a religious ritual than a tired cliche. It’s contagious, as the staff at Maldivian island resort Vakkaru can vouch for, guests – certainly me – ditch the formality and stress [...]
‘Grim reading’: Marks & Spencer sales keep falling as it rethinks food and clothing brands November 7, 2018 Same-store sales at Marks & Spencer’s food and clothing divisions both fell as it told investors it expects “little improvement” in the months ahead. The figures M&S revenue declined 3.1 per cent year on year to £4.96bn in the six months to the end of September. Clothing and home division revenue dropped 2.7 per cent due [...]
Deliveroo pays workers to settle gig economy employment case June 28, 2018 Takeaway delivery firm Deliveroo has settled a legal claim by 50 of its couriers for a reported six-figure sum, in another legal battle involving employment rights in the gig economy. The claim revolved around the alleged failure of Deliveroo to give its couriers legal employment rights, such as the minimum wage and paid holiday. Multiple [...]
Fitness advice: How desk jockey office workers can combat the scourge of sitting, dubbed by some the ‘new smoking’ April 11, 2019 Most of my clients spend the majority of their waking hours at work. This invariably means hours chained behind a desk with very little movement. Throw in relatively poor nutrition and you have a situation where your lifestyle can start to really affect your health. Spread this scenario over many years and problems can grow [...]
The best and worst ads of 2019 December 16, 2019 It has been a year of highs and lows for adland. PRs, creative agencies, and brands will be examining their advertising efforts this month, and while some will be pleased with their work, others will be looking to improve next year. To help with this process, I asked members of the marketing industry and other [...]