Marks & Spencer profit knocked lower by poor clothing sales November 6, 2019 Weak clothing and home sales knocked profit 17 per cent lower at Marks & Spencer in its latest half-year, it revealed today. But the high street chain’s share price led the FTSE risers, climbing up 5.3 per cent to 192.05p, as investors felt it could have been a lot worse as boss Steve Rowe said [...]
Lockdown DIYers push B&Q owner Kingfisher past £1bn profit March 22, 2022 Kingfisher’s sales shot up last year as the B&Q owner became the third UK retailer to exceed £1bn profit. The home improvement behemoth joined retail titans Tesco and Marks & Spencer when it revealed its profits had reached record levels on Tuesday. Lockdown DIYers sent sales past £13bn for the year to 31 January, thanks [...]
It’s Quiz-mas! How will you score in Deloitte’s big economics quiz of the year? December 20, 2023 The answers and a brief explanation of the factors at work are at the end of this note. Obviously, our readers won't be cheating....
Insurers need to capture the Covid-19 zeitgeist and go beyond expectations January 21, 2021 As a communications professional, you rarely want your client and the words “the Supreme Court” to appear in the same sentence. However, last week, the justices issued a 112-page judgement on the Financial Conduct Authority’s appeal asking for “clarification” on whether insurance companies were required to pay business interruption claims for companies which had been [...]
Our relationship with China has been overhauled, but it’s still a crucial one for the City April 27, 2023 Next Monday, Virgin Atlantic planes between London Heathrow and Shanghai will resume. This reopens many symbolic and actual possibilities for our relationship with China, writes Juha Jarvinen
Tory leadership race: UK retail titan Lord Stuart Rose backs Rishi Sunak July 14, 2022 The Conservative party should choose Rishi Sunak as its next leader as he has a “big brain” and understands “the need for us to get our economy back on track”, according to Asda chair Lord Stuart Rose. Rose – who was previously chief executive at Argos, Marks & Spencer and the Arcadia Group – said [...]
In defence of keeping the CBI alive and even expanding it April 14, 2023 After the sacking of Tony Danker, the CBI is in death throes, but we still need a place to build trust in business leaders, and we should save the principle of the Confederation of Business Industry, writes Ben Cope The Confederation of British Industry – the CBI – doesn’t have many friends right now. Rocked [...]
Marks & Spencer hires ex-Tesco exec to fix struggling clothing division November 22, 2019 Marks & Spencer has named a new clothing boss to replace its ousted former head of the struggling division. Tesco’s former F&F clothing chief Richard Price will join as M&S’s new managing director of clothing home after Jill McDonald left the role in July. Read more: Poor clothing sales knock M&S’s half-year profit lower Marks [...]
Brexit ‘unpicked’? Starmer defends approach to EU as Tories go on the attack September 22, 2023 The Labour leader insisted there was no case for rejoining the EU, its single market or customs union after the Tories seized on comments suggesting he would not “diverge” from Brussels’ rules.
Mark Kleinman: This Post Office circus is obscuring the real drama February 29, 2024 The City's best connected columnist on the Post Office, confusion at the top of an insurer and why the Pru is looking at Hong Kong