What the other papers say this Morning October 9, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Channel Islands unite over deficits Guernsey and Jersey are setting aside centuries of rivalry to defeat a common foe: the budget deficit. Senior politicians on the two islands, which have struggled to balance their books since the onset of the financial crisis in 2008, are considering radical moves to combine public services, including [...]
Sir Stuart Rose appointed new Ocado chairman January 22, 2013 Online grocer Ocado has appointed former Marks & Spencer chief executive Sir Stuart Rose as its new chairman. Sir Stuart will succeed Michael Grade as chairman following Ocado’s AGM in May. Rose, who has worked in the retail sector for 41 years, was chief executive of clothing and food retailer Marks & Spencer from 2004 [...]
Fat Face hires Sir Stuart Rose February 3, 2013 SIR Stuart Rose, the former boss of Marks & Spencer, has been appointed as chairman of clothing brand Fat Face, less that two weeks after being named as the new chairman of online grocery firm Ocado. Sir Stuart will take the helm at the private equity-owned group in July, replacing Alan Giles, who will step [...]
ANALYST VIEWS | WHAT HAS SPARKED MARKS & SPENCER’S POOR TRADING PERFORMANCE? July 10, 2012 BETHANY HOCKING INVESTEC The ongoing outperformance of food is making M&S a structurally lower gross margin business, with food gross margin around 20 basis points lower than of clothing. Clothing still accounts for roughly half of profits, however, so issues there are in need of a solution and the management changes are thus positive, but [...]
Tesco voted worst supermarket in survey of 11,000 UK shoppers February 21, 2013 TESCO has been voted the worst of Britain’s nine major supermarkets in a poll carried out by one of the leading consumer groups. More than 11,000 Which? members rated the supermarkets with customer scores based on customer satisfaction and the likelihood they would recommend it to a friend. Tesco, the UK’s largest supermarket group, came [...]
BBC iPlayer topples Marks & Spencer as digital brands dominate UK’s top three July 10, 2012 The latest YouGov BrandIndex bi-annual league table reveals that Amazon, Google and BBC iPlayer have managed to beat 850-plus brands to become the most highly-rated brands in the UK. The 2012 bi-annual league table, compiled using the Index score (a composite of six key image attributes – general impression, value, quality, satisfaction, recommendation and corporate [...]
Britain’s business elite is becoming increasingly Eurosceptic April 24, 2013 A PERNICIOUS myth has finally been laid to rest. From today, nobody can claim any longer that British business is united in its support of the European Union and the ever-greater centralisation of powers in Brussels. With over 500 business people – from top FTSE 100 bosses to entrepreneurs – signing up to Business for [...]
British Land in £143m bet on Ealing shoppers February 11, 2013 BRITISH LAND has snapped up a portfolio of London properties from Dutch investment firm Wereldhave for £183.8m, the property giant confirmed yesterday. The biggest asset in the portfolio is Ealing Broadway shopping centre in west London, which is anchored by retailers including Marks & Spencer and Primark and attracts 15m visitors each year. British Land [...]
LONDON REPORT July 8, 2012 ALL eyes will be focused on the Treasury Select Committee hearing today, as deputy Bank of England governor Paul Tucker presents his side of the story in the Barclays/ Libor scandal. His appearance will be followed tomorrow by one from Marcus Agius, the former Barclays chairman. Today sees trading updates from housebuilder Bovis – expected [...]
Christmas countdown for rival high street retailers December 4, 2012 AS we move into the final countdown to Christmas, our high street department stores are pulling out all the stops. Looking back over 2012, the race between Marks & Spencer and John Lewis has never been tighter. YouGov’s BrandIndex highlights how the two brands began the year with six points separating their Index scores – [...]