UK inflation falls to lowest rate since 2002 thanks to plumetting oil prices December 16, 2014 UK inflation fell to its lowest rate since 2002 in November after petrol costs were cut due to plummeting oil prices. The rate of consumer price growth fell to one per cent last month, the lowest rate for 12 years and down from a 1.3 per cent rate in October. Any hopes investors [...]
Burberry 2014 Christmas campaign launched as profits hurt by foreign exchange loss November 12, 2014 Burberry yesterday brushed off concerns over foreign exchange movements, saying it expected the effects to wear off in the next six months after taking its toll on first-half profit. The luxury fashion group posted a six per cent rise in underlying profit to £152m in the six months to 30 September. But [...]
Beagle 2 on Mars: Five things you should know about the mission everyone thought had failed January 16, 2015 WHAT IS BEAGLE 2? Beagle2 is a European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft that was sent to Mars on Christmas Day 11 years ago. The purpose of the UK-led project was to search for signs of life on the red planet, but a lack of communication from the space craft led researchers to believe that [...]
How to get a bigger Christmas bonus December 11, 2014 Some subtle boasting may be in order – even if you work at a relatively small company. It's that time of year when work calms down and Secret Santa gifts are exchanged. But while Christmas is generally a time for giving and altruism, thoughts in the City also turn to the reward you’ve grafted [...]
Poundland sits pretty after new make-up launch November 27, 2014 THE ECONOMY may be improving, but Poundland’s booming popularity is proof shoppers are sticking to recession-born habits of seeking out a bargain, the company said as it posted a jump in first-half profits. The value retailer enjoyed a 34.2 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £12.6m in the six months to 28 September, beating [...]
How much will Sony lose by cancelling The Interview? Counting the cost of the cyber attack December 18, 2014 “The holiday season”, as it’s referred to in the film industry, is supposed to be one of the most lucrative periods of the year for Hollywood studios. Yet for Sony Pictures, hopes for a bump in its Christmas stocking have been hit by the insidious cyber-attack which has pushed it to cancel the release [...]
John Lewis’ 2014 Christmas ad campaign is the full Monty – Brand Index November 25, 2014 John Lewis’ Monty the Penguin Christmas advert was released earlier this month amid a great deal of hype, making the £7m campaign a festive tradition in its own right. Using YouGov BrandIndex data, we can see the upsurge across a variety of metrics that the release of the advert created. The advert follows a proven [...]
Happy Christmas to all our readers – Editor’s Letter December 22, 2014 So we come to the end of another year, and 2014 has been eventful enough, dominated politically in the UK by the debate over the future of Scotland and elsewhere by Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. Oil prices have crashed, causing major implications for producers and consumers alike and in some countries interest rates have [...]
Royal Mail share price falls as profits drop after struggles with competition November 19, 2014 This isn't what Royal Mail shareholders wanted to hear in the run-up to its busiest month: shares fell 7.3 per cent in the early afternoon as the 500-year-old postal service said its delivery operations faced "stiff competition" in the first half of the financial year. For the six months to 28 September, pre-tax profit [...]
Black Friday UK 2014: John Lewis gears up for weekend shopping frenzy as sales growth slows November 25, 2014 John Lewis said yesterday it was gearing up for this weekend’s shopping frenzy that begins with Black Friday, as sales growth slowed over the past week. Sales in the week ending Saturday 22 November rose to £114.2m, 2.1 per cent up on the same period last year and a five per cent rise on the [...]