Sainsbury’s share price rises despite first quarter sales fall June 8, 2016 UK supermarkets' problems are still lingering in the new financial year, after Sainsbury's reported a fall in like-for-like sales over the last three months and warned of challenging times ahead. With total sales looking steady and investors fearing worse, however, shares jumped 2.6 per cent to 253p in early trading. The figures Total retail sales excluding fuel were up 0.3 per cent in [...]
Protesters in East London block attendees from entering Business France event at Shoreditch House February 23, 2016 Prospective attendees were blocked from entering a Business France event at celeb favourite Shoreditch House tonight due to protests against the French ambassadors' attendance. The protests, reported to be made in solidarity with migrants in Calais, interrupted the UK launch of Creative France, Business France's new campaign aimed at promoting France's creativity. The protesters said [...]
Oil output down, tax up: Here’s what’s going on with Islamic State’s finances April 19, 2016 Islamic State is having financial troubles. The terrorist group is bringing in millions of dollars less than it did this time last year. “The Islamic State is still a force in the region, but, this drop in revenue is a significant figure and will increase the challenge for the group to run its territory in [...]
Cybersecurity is a growing risk for businesses, as firms fret about the damage an incident could cause to their reputation January 13, 2016 Companies are becoming increasingly concerned about the impact cyber attacks could have on their business, particularly the effect they could have on their reputation. According to a survey of more than 800 risk managers and insurance experts from around the world released today by Allianz, cyber incidents ranked as the top risk to businesses in the [...]
Tube strike February 2016: City firms must adopt an instinctual reaction to ensure it’s business as usual, even if the London Underground stops running February 3, 2016 After a disruption in the summer, where industrial action from RMT derailed commuters and brought the capital to a near stand-still, we are once again bracing ourselves for further Tube strikes. The London Chamber of Commerce (LCC) estimates that the London Underground strikes cost the capital £48m each day; however it’s not just an organisation’s [...]
What Kanye West got wrong about social selling February 22, 2016 Who couldn’t use an extra billion dollars? I’m sure many people checking their bank balance after the Christmas season could do with the extra cash. Apparently Kanye West had the same thought last week when he asked Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for that amount via Twitter. While it seems unlikely that it will be a [...]
How to make better decisions, faster: Follow Obama’s example and make certain choices routine January 19, 2016 "Nothing comes to my desk that is perfectly solvable. Otherwise, someone else would have solved it. So you wind up dealing with probabilities,” Barack Obama told Vanity Fair in 2012. “Any given decision you make you’ll wind up with a 30 to 40 per cent chance that it isn’t going to work.” Yet decision paralysis [...]
Debrett’s Ask the Expert: How can I get over my fear of public speaking? March 14, 2016 Q: Help! I have risen to a senior position within my field, but every time I speak publicly I feel as nervous as a schoolboy. I don’t want my managers or colleagues to see how nervous I am, and I feel my fear is holding me back from progressing in my career. How can I [...]
Dominic Chappell faces MPs’ questions on BHS collapse as retailer’s management appear at BIS select committee hearing June 8, 2016 Former BHS owner Dominic Chappell, the majority shareholder of Retail Acquisitions, which bought BHS for £1 last year from Sir Philip Green, is giving evidence on the retailer's collapse this morning. The business, innovation and skills (BIS) select committee has already heard explosive evidence about the sale of BHS to Retail Acquisitions and its subsequent demise – with [...]
The biggest marketing trends for 2016 according to the industry’s leading figures January 4, 2016 MESSAGING WILL BECOME INCREASINGLY PERSONALISED – Matthew Heath, chairman and chief strategy officer at Lida. Messaging will become more and more personalised. Our ability to target consumers in segments of tens or hundreds of thousands, right down to the individual, has been something marketers have long talked about. But the right technology hasn't been available. Now, [...]