Bank of America to hike salaries for junior bankers amid lifestyle scrutiny April 8, 2021 Bank of America today said it will raise the salaries of its junior investment bankers amid growing scrutiny over working conditions at major banks. The lender said the pay boost, which will come into effect next month, reflects the heightened workload caused by a flurry of dealmaking during the pandemic. “Given our ongoing remote work [...]
Retail tycoon Mike Ashley ‘furious’ after being ‘frozen out’ of Debenhams sale November 1, 2020 Retail mogul Mike Ashley is reportedly “furious” about being “frozen out” of an auction for collapsed department store Debenhams. The Sunday Times reported that lawyers for the tycoon have spent the last week complaining to Lazards and law firm Freshfields that Ashley’s Frasers Group had been given “woefully inadequate” information on the sale. Last week [...]
Business rates appeals soar as property experts slam government’s ban on Covid-19 review requests April 30, 2021 Business rates appeals have soared since the beginning of the pandemic, with experts branding the government’s decision to block reconsiderations based on Covid-19 as a “material change of circumstance” as a “disgrace”. The latest figures showed that, between 1 April last year and the end of March 2021, 409,430 checks had been lodged by firms, [...]
Ex-government minister Justine Greening joins On the Beach board March 5, 2021 Former government minister Justine Greening has joined the board of online travel agent On the Beach. Greening, who was the Conservative MP for Putney, Roehampton and Southfields between 2005 and 2019, has been appointed as a non-executive director with immediate effect. On the Beach said her experience in Westminster will help it navigate the “major” [...]
Mulberry swings to loss on tough UK retail market and House of Fraser collapse June 19, 2019 Luxury handbag maker Mulberry swung to a loss of £5m last year as the “challenging” UK retail market and the collapse of House of Fraser hit sales. The figures Mulberry reported a pre-tax loss of £5m for the year ending 30 March, down from £6.9m profit the previous year. Read more: Mulberry widens losses after [...]
E-commerce grocery sales plateau boosts Aldi’s market share to peak levels June 22, 2021 The growth of e-commerce sales in the grocery market has plateaued, giving the likes of Aldi an opportunity to grow its market share after not making use of online sales in the past year. The percentage of e-commerce sales in the grocery market remained flat at 13.4 per cent in the four weeks to 13 [...]
£80m in Covid contracts lawsuit: Matt Hancock’s personal WhatsApp and emails to be scrutinised September 21, 2021 The personal WhatsApp messages and emails from former Health Secretary Matt Hancock will be searched as part of a High Court battle over millions of pounds’ worth of antibody test contracts. The Good Law Project has brought legal action against the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), claiming that more than £80m in contracts [...]
Panic over: Brits made 117m fewer trips to the supermarket this March March 30, 2021 Brits made 117m fewer trips to supermarkets this month than in March 2020, which was a month that saw supermarket shelves stripped bare as consumers started panic buying ahead of the UK’s first national lockdown. Grocery sales fell three per cent in the four weeks to 21 March 2021, while during the same period last [...]
More than 700 high street jobs axed as Arcadia closes 31 stores January 19, 2021 Administrators to Sir Philip Green’s collapsed retail empire Arcadia are planning to close a further 31 stores by the end of this month, resulting in more than 700 job losses. The majority of the branches set to close are Outfit stores, which sold a range of Arcadia brands including Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge. City [...]
JD Sports in exclusive talks with Debenhams to buy department store November 24, 2020 JD Sports is in exclusive talks with Debenhams that would see the troubled department chain acquired by the sportswear business, according to reports. Debenhams fell into administration in April for the second time. The coronavirus has hit the destitute department store hard, with stores closed and thousands of jobs axed due to the virus. According [...]