Lost for words: The indie bookshop has weathered many storms, from the rise of Amazon to rising rents. But its future has never looked so perilous September 7, 2017 Prospero’s Books stood on Crouch End Broadway for 10 years. I remember it, though not well. The bookshops of my childhood memories are all vaguely similar – they were places where I’d be both happy and bored. To hear locals tell it, there wasn’t any sign that Prospero’s was in trouble. It seemed to plod [...]
M&S and Microsoft launch strategic partnership June 21, 2018 Marks & Spencer is teaming up with Microsoft in a bid to shake off its reputation as a digital laggard. A strategic partnership between the two companies will focus on testing the integration of Microsoft artificial intelligence (AI) tech into M&S stores and wider operations. Today’s announcement comes a day after a former M&S digital [...]
Amazon Prime Day 2017: ecommerce giant extends dominance as it courts new members with day of deals July 10, 2017 Amazon Prime Day begins at 6pm today, just as new research reveals that 37 per cent of online spend now goes through Amazon, with the ecommerce giant only set to grow as more consumers turn to online shopping. Nearly three quarters (73 per cent) of people surveyed by ecommerce consultancy Salmon said they plan to [...]
A luddite levy on online shopping won’t help the high street October 23, 2018 Time and time again over the past few months, we’ve heard prominent figures in the retail world call for a special sales tax on online companies to help prop up their struggling sector, from the Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis, to the New West End Company that represents Selfridges and Marks & Spencer. Chancellor Philip [...]
Andy Warhol’s £6m selfie and how we can all now be famous for 15 minutes December 13, 2018 One day in 1963, Andy Warhol walked into a New York photobooth and took what have become the world’s most famous selfies. One of these trailblazing self-portraits has just been sold at a Sotheby’s auction for just over £6m. These selfies perfectly suited Warhol’s vision of the pop art era of the late 1950s and [...]
The economic answer behind superstar salaries September 12, 2018 Rugby Union’s Premiership season is underway again. This is yet another professional sport which operates on the principles of socialism: the money all ends up in the pockets of what we might call the “workers”. In a sport which was allegedly only played by amateurs until the mid-1990s, earnings have boomed. The average salary in the [...]
It’s time for Theresa May to use her secret Brexit weapon: business October 17, 2018 Two weeks ago, I was in Birmingham among my fellow Conservatives awaiting Theresa May’s closing conference speech. I expected her to take a strong stance on the Chequers-based plan for Brexit and finally call upon her most valuable and underused supporters – business leaders – to champion her vision, not least because I and my [...]
Final countdown: How the thrilling conclusion of the Sky takeover saga could pan out September 19, 2018 A near two-year takeover saga for Sky is approaching a stunning finale this weekend – and the city will be watching on in suspense as it could come to a thrilling conclusion. It's been a long and drawn out affair which started back in December 2016, when 21st century Fox first struck a $14.6bn deal to buy [...]
Final countdown: How the thrilling conclusion of the Sky takeover saga could pan out September 19, 2018 A near two-year takeover saga for Sky is approaching a stunning finale this weekend – and the city will be watching on in suspense as it could come to a thrilling conclusion. It's been a long and drawn out affair which started back in December 2016, when 21st century Fox first struck a $14.6bn deal to buy [...]
Will active management fight back? June 25, 2018 In contrast to ‘passive’ fund or trackers, which aim to replicate the performance of an index, ‘active’ funds employ fund managers to try and select the best performing investments. There are pros and cons for both methods. Passives are cheaper, sometimes substantially so, but they also won’t outperform the index they are following. Meanwhile, finding [...]