Barratt Developments and Taylor Wimpey join the FTSE 100 in quarterly shake-up December 3, 2014 Home-builders Barratt Developments and Taylor Wimpey will join the FTSE 100 index, replacing Petrofac and IMI, it has been announced today. The latter two have recently been hurt by crumbling commodity prices amid a global sell-off. Jimmy Choo, Allied Minds, CLS Holdings, Game Digital, Greggs and Spirit Pubs will join the FTSE 250. EnQuest, Fenner, [...]
Carpetright wins over investors as sales rebound December 15, 2014 SHARES in Carpetright soared yesterday after the high street retailer said it expected full-year profit to be at the top end of forecasts thanks to a pick-up in sales both at home and overseas. The retailer, which kits out homes with carpets, rugs and flooring, said group revenues rose 2.6 per cent to £227.9m in [...]
London leads Britain’s enterprise recovery with surge in new firms November 27, 2014 Entrepreneurs set up 84,000 firms in London from 2012 to 2013, official figures showed yesterday, far outstripping any other part of the country. It means London was responsible for 24 per cent of the country’s 346,000 new firms in the year. At the same time, 50,000 firms in the capital closed, or 21 per cent [...]
Mitchells & Butlers share price falls following damp August September 25, 2014 Mitchells & Butlers reported a 3.8 per cent increase in full-year sales in its pre-close trading statement for the year to 20 September, but added that sales were significantly lower in August than during the previous month. The pub and bar company, whose chains include Harvester and All Bar One, said sales in July [...]
Sport Comment: Players turned pundits can earn a packet after football January 29, 2015 FOOTBALL pundits: don’t you just love them? Well, maybe you do, perhaps you don’t. They are there to curry debate, adding their professional perspective to TV and radio coverage of our great game. Only yesterday, we woke up to reports that former Spurs and England schemer Danny Murphy was facing a £2.5m tax bill. Now [...]
Spirit Pub Company planning to start buying more pubs this year January 14, 2014 SPIRIT Pub Company, the firm behind brands such as Chef & Brewer, Flaming Grill and Fayre & Square, yesterday reported a seven per cent rise in sales during the 20 weeks to 4 January due to strong trading over the Christmas period. The firm said it is continuing with work to grow its own managed [...]
Spirit Pub shares rise as Britain’s warmer winter buoys drink sales March 18, 2014 THE UK’s warm winter weather helped the Spirit Pub Company, operator of pubs such as John Barras, Fayre & Square and Flaming Grill, report a boost in food and drink sales yesterday. Like-for-like food sales across the group jumped 6.7 per cent in the eight weeks to 1 March, while total sales rose 6.1 per [...]
Soaring Tesco helps FTSE but Serco plummets – London Report November 10, 2014 BRITAIN’S top share index yesterday advanced to a five-week high as investors bought into the consumer staples and retail sectors, with ailing supermarket group Tesco leading the gainers. The stand-out mover of the day, however, was mid-cap services outsourcer Serco, whose shares fell 32.2 per cent to 215p after saying it planned a rights issue [...]
Battle of the Nigels: Farage vs Askew as Ukip to take on the Reality party in South Thanet November 5, 2014 Russell Brand has been making the headlines as a pop culture icon-cum-political revolutionary lately, but he certainly isn’t the only one. Let’s not forget Bez from the Happy Mondays and his Reality party. Someone who is unlikely to forget is Ukip’s Nigel Farage, as he’ll be up against one of its candidates in [...]
Dear Uber drivers: As its Spotify tie-up launches, you’re going to hear way more Kate Bush, One Direction – and Kirsty MacColl November 21, 2014 The tie-up between Spotify and Uber launches today, meaning anyone who gets in an Uber cab can listen to their own tunes. The system works using a feature inside Uber's app which connects to the driver's phone. As long as it is plugged into the sound system, it allows passengers to determine what plays over [...]