A boardroom first: Women outnumber male directors December 13, 2021 For the first time ever women make up the majority of independent directors at the largest listed companies but are still outnumbered by men at executive level, according to a new study. Across the 150 biggest public companies in Britain, 442 women are employed as non-executive directors, just edging out the number of male peers, [...]
UK High Street sees slight increase in December sales January 4, 2020 UK shops saw a marginal increase in December sales year-on-year driven by widespread discounting, a new survey revealed on Saturday. Sales in British shops were up 0.7 per cent for the month compared with 2018, according to the accountancy and business advisory firm BDO’s monthly High Street Sales Tracker. Read more: Next raises forecast after [...]
1 in 15 customer service staff have faced death threats as businesses call for better treatment December 8, 2021 Retail staff have said customer abuse has become more aggressive after the shops were hit by stock and labour shortages this year. The Institute of Customer Service, alongside bosses from household names including Marks and Spencers, Sainsbury’s and Wickes, has signed an open letter calling for better treatment of customer service staff. Workers fear abuse [...]
Can online favourite Ocado make a comeback, or will its share price sink lower? March 28, 2023 Ocado’s share price fell nearly six per cent in afternoon trade as the “magic” of the online retailer’s venture with Marks and Spencer did little to buoy the confidence of investors In its start of year trading update Ocado revealed that retail revenue grew slightly by 3.4 per cent, although a 7.5 per cent decrease [...]
DEBATE: Will the M&S venture with Ocado turn around its fortunes? November 7, 2019 Will Marks & Spencer’s joint venture with Ocado turn around the struggling retailer’s fortunes? YES, says Adam Vettese, investment analyst at multi-asset investment platform eToro When you think of Marks & Spencer, you think of food. And not just any food, but top-quality food. In fact, food is so important to M&S that it now [...]
Couple of outsiders might Trail Native home in the Guineas April 29, 2022 NEWMARKET’s Qipco 2000 Guineas (3:40pm) marks the first Classic of the season and also the first chance for UK Tote customers to bet on domestic action with the World Pool. A field of 15 runners are set to go to post, and other than odds-on favourite NATIVE TRAIL the race has an open look to it, so [...]
How should Waitrose move on as Ocado deal comes to an end? February 12, 2020 Supermarket chain Waitrose has announced an overhaul of its products and a new advertising campaign to retain customers this summer when its deal with delivery provider Ocado comes to an end. Ocado’s partnership with Waitrose comes to an end in August, and a new deal with Marks & Spencer will be delivered shortly after. As [...]
Share and share alike: electronically? August 28, 2020 Where – if you’re lucky enough to own shares – do you store the paperwork? A drawer? The attic? Share certificates – possessed by millions of Britons – and dividend cheques seem on a path becoming obsolete. A trend towards digital delivery of shareholder-related communications means that the era of private investors filing away their [...]
Credit card giant Newday set to buy finance platform Deko January 9, 2020 Credit card issuer Newday has reportedly agreed to purchase retail finance platform Deko in a bid to boost its tech credentials. Newday has reached a deal to acquire Deko for up to £40m, depending on the tech provider’s performance, Sky News reported. Read more: ‘Worst year on record’ for retailers in 2019 If the purchase [...]
This Week: PMIs, Morrisons, Next, US unemployment, Fed, M&S January 4, 2021 City A.M. looks at the first business week of 2021 with Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK. Monday: UK PMIs for December Flash numbers in the middle of December were surprisingly encouraging, with manufacturing rising to 57.3. “No doubt due to some pre-Brexit stockpiling. services also managed to rebound a touch, coming [...]