City Moves for 19 February – who’s switching jobs at Deloitte, Personal Group and BNP Paribas? February 19, 2019 Who’s on the move today? Deloitte Deloitte has appointed Chris Bostock as a director in its financial crime practice. With over 15 years’ experience, he joins from the economic crime team at the National Crime Agency (NCA) where he was the threat lead for money laundering. He led the joint money laundering intelligence taskforce, a [...]
Revenue soars at Ocado during lockdown July 14, 2020 Retail sales for the first half of 2020 for online grocer Ocado jumped 27 per cent to £1bn, as Brits did their supermarket shopping from home. The group reported a loss before tax of £40.6m in the six months to the end of May, citing an increase in investment to handle increased demand as a [...]
FTSE 100 slides as US market slump sparks downward spiral January 28, 2019 The FTSE 100 followed US stocks on a downward spiral this afternoon closing 0.9 per cent down for the day. US construction giant Caterpillar set the tone with disappointing fourth quarter results as a slowdown in China and trade tensions were cited as reasons for the miss. The Dow Jones lost more than 300 points in [...]
Waitrose ranked best UK supermarket in annual Which survey February 22, 2020 Waitrose has been ranked as the best supermarket in the UK in an annual satisfaction survey conducted by Which. The chain, which is owned by John Lewis, hit five stars on most categories, but did come joint-last in value for money. Budget supermarkets Aldi and Lidl continue to be ranked highest in terms of value. [...]
Amazon rolls out free grocery deliveries for Prime customers July 28, 2020 Amazon Prime customers will be able to order grocery deliveries to their home for free, the e-commerce giant announced today, in a huge blow to high street supermarket giants and small retailers. The tech titan will roll out free deliveries via its Amazon Fresh grocery service to Prime subscribers across 300 postcodes from today, with [...]
Marks and Spencer turnaround: Retail veteran Steve Rowe must make M&S tills jingle all the way during Christmas period November 9, 2017 Marks and Spencer started this week on a cheery note with the launch of its Christmas advert – but the festive feel didn’t last long for the high-street stalwart. The new advert sent Twitter into a tizzy on Tuesday with some viewers convinced that one of the characters was mouthing a swear word in a [...]
Weekly outlook, 2-6 November: FTSE heavyweights in spotlight as election day arrives November 2, 2020 It’s election day at last, and while the outcome of Tuesday’s vote in the US will drive the headlines for much of this week and beyond, there’s still a full slate of results and economic updates in store for UK markets. With coronavirus cases now surging at an alarming rate, Boris Johnson has announced a [...]
Capita slashes net debt and profit as outsourcer kicks on with ‘radical’ turnaround plan March 14, 2019 Outsourcer Capita’s revenues were down more than £300m last year, as turnaround specialist CEO Jonathan Lewis worked to nullify the “existential threat” facing the firm when he took over in late 2017. Lewis told City A.M. he has taken “radical, decisive action” to simplify the firm, which saw profits fall more than one-quarter but still [...]
CMA launches coronavirus taskforce to stamp down on over-pricing March 20, 2020 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched a taskforce to prevent businesses from taking advantage of shoppers during the UK coronavirus outbreak. The UK competition watchdog warned the outbreak has “prompted many concerns that businesses might exploit the situacion to take advantage of people”. Amid stockpiling of food and toilet roll across the UK, [...]
Foxtons will take ‘all necessary steps’ to stay in business amid coronavirus outbreak March 20, 2020 Foxtons issued a trading update this morning advising that it will take “all necessary steps” ahead of the “inevitable material disruption to trading in the coming months.” The estate agent reassured investors that the first 11 weeks of the financial year had been in line with expectations but warned that the “significantly weakened economic outlook” [...]