When fintechs and banks go speed dating February 8, 2017 While the seemingly age-old debate about whether fintech startups will kill banks still rages on, FinovateEurope demonstrates why that question is now largely redundant – things have moved on. The 80 startups on stage at the two day event in the heart of the City are pitching the banks, insurers and City institutions in attendance more [...]
Holiday delivery failures threaten to have a big impact on UK retailers’ bottom lines and tarnish reputations December 21, 2016 Delivery failures over the Christmas period are set to impact UK retailers' bottom lines as they could be missing out on more than £3bn, new research today revealed. In the UK, 16m consumers faced delivery delays over the 2015 holiday season, and 73 per cent of them still refuse to shop with the offending retailer this [...]
International Day of Happiness: 10 things to do to ensure you live a happy life March 20, 2017 Leading a happy life has proven to be a challenge and statistics show we are no happier now than we were sixty years ago. So as it’s International Day of Happiness today, perhaps it's time to take matters into our own hands.. Action for Happiness is a movement of people committed to building a happier [...]
Italy’s Ferrero defends its use of palm oil after a European group said it could cause cancer January 11, 2017 Nutella maker Ferrero has spoken out in support of the palm oil industry after a European agency said the ingredient poses a cancer risk. The Italian chocolate makers launched an advertising campaign to defend their use of the oil, which others in Italy are boycotting, Reuters reported. Using substitutes like sunflower oil would change the character of the hazelnut [...]
Our chef columnist Mark Hix on his enduring love for black pudding and the dish that made him fall in love with it January 10, 2017 I’ve been hooked on black pudding ever since it first passed my lips as a kid. There was just something about it I loved, even though the blood pudding I grew up with probably contained way too much rusk or filler and not enough actual meat, which was cheap and low quality. Maybe it was [...]
Brexit fears send profits plummeting at Walkers Crips as growth spending drives revenue down November 21, 2016 Wealth investment company Walkers Crips reported a massive drop in profit in the first half of its financial year as the Brexit vote continues to keep companies guessing about the future. Pretax profit fell by 91 per cent to £53,000 from £589,000 in the six months to the end of September. Revenue dropped to £13.2m from [...]
Retailers will need to brave fierce headwinds in 2017 January 2, 2017 The high street's cold snap over Christmas and the New Year is not just seasonal. Several chills running through the sector could finally be felt with their full force in 2017. Rising inflation, falling wage growth, escalating costs and sterling's depreciation are all expected to weigh on retailers in the coming months. If inflation takes [...]
Christmas sandwiches tested: which have been naughty and which are nice November 8, 2016 We filled a basket with the first crop of Christmas sandwiches – find out which ones we thought worthy of your lunch money and which to avoid like the Grinch. Pret Christmas lunch ★★★★☆ Too much going on here – piles of slightly-too-dry stuffing and a clumping of fillings in the middle. But saved by [...]
Moving clearing from London to Europe is no piece of cake March 17, 2017 "Britain cannot have its cake and eat it over Brexit negotiations.” Comments such as this from the Prime Minister of Luxembourg at the height of political tensions following the EU referendum have, perhaps unsurprisingly, become synonymous with the Brexit debate since 23 June. But with the triggering of Article 50 just around the corner, it [...]
Just Eat grows its presence in Latin America February 16, 2015 Online takeaway group Just Eat is preparing to push into Mexico with yesterday’s acquisition of the country’s leading takeaway group. SinDelantal Mexico will expand Just Eat’s business into its thirteenth country as the group looks to grow in the Latin American takeaway market. “We are delighted to be entering the thriving Mexican market, which offers [...]