How much Christmas shopping will you do online? November 21, 2012 CHRISTOPHER JENNER SWISS RE I’ll probably do about 85 per cent of it online due to laziness. Compared to last year, I do think my Christmas online shopping has progressed substantially. I mainly order vouchers for people and get my shopping done throughout December. PAMELA HARTLEY STANDARD BANK I imagine I’ll do about 50 per [...]
John Lewis is upbeat on 2012 March 7, 2012 THE CHAIRMAN of John Lewis has predicted a modest recovery for retailers this year despite unveiling a sharp fall in annual profits. Charlie Mayfield told City A.M. the sector would shift from “decline to growth” this year following a “bloody difficult” 2011. He added: “I’m not in any way underplaying how serious the challenges are. [...]
Smartphones take centre stage in the Christmas shopping rush November 25, 2012 CONSUMERS will not be far from their smartphones when stocking up on gifts this Christmas, with some £3.5bn sales expected to be purchased on or influenced by smartphones, according to business advisory firm Deloitte. The accountancy firm predicts 10 per cent of in-store Christmas sales (£3.2bn) will be influenced by smartphones, with another £330m of [...]
Flailing high street has worse to come in the year ahead January 6, 2013 AFTER holding their breath for the last few weeks, some retailers can at last allow themselves a cautious sigh of relief. Positive sales numbers from the likes of John Lewis and Next have given the sector a much-needed dose of optimism, resulting in a slight hike in share prices for some of the larger players. [...]
Who’s switching jobs November 26, 2012 Alvarez & Marsal The professional services firm has appointed Faisal Galaria as a senior director. He was previously vice president of Spotify, where he was responsible for mergers & acquisitions and strategic partnerships. Galaria has also held senior roles at Skype and eBay. Pinsent Masons Jonathan Beastall has been appointed to the law firm’s corporate [...]
Asda takes on John Lewis exec February 27, 2012 ASDA has poached John Lewis exec Richard Mayfield to fill the role of chief financial officer. Mayfield, director of partnership services at John Lewis, is to join the retail giant in the summer, replacing acting CFO Rob McWilliam, who is moving to parent firm Wal-Mart as a strategy director. Before working for John Lewis, Mayfield [...]
Asda takes on John Lewis exec February 27, 2012 ASDA has poached John Lewis exec Richard Mayfield to fill the role of chief financial officer. Mayfield, director of partnership services at John Lewis, is to join the retail giant in the summer, replacing acting CFO Rob McWilliam, who is moving to parent firm Wal-Mart as a strategy director. Before working for John Lewis, Mayfield [...]
Comet’s passing brings a brief celebration for rivals’ shares but the challenges they face haven’t gone away November 1, 2012 COMETS are said to burn across the sky on the death of a prince. The passing of this Comet was marked instead by the rise of its rivals’ share prices, with Dixons Retail Group doing especially well on the assumption that its chains will pick up business. But no one can pretend that kind of [...]
The lasting public legacy of the 2012 Olympic Games December 11, 2012 AS each year draws to a close I like to look back over YouGov’s BrandIndex and consider the big gainers and fallers of the previous twelve months. Usually this involves examining Britain’s most recognisable corporate brands, such as last week when we looked at how the competition between department store giants John Lewis and Marks [...]
What the other papers say this morning December 17, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Insurers warn regulators on reforms Insurers are conducting a war of words with regulators trying to prevent a repeat of AIG’s collapse, as the industry makes a last-ditch effort to avoid capital surcharges. US banks call for easing of Basel III US banks are making a last-minute push to ease new global liquidity [...]