Stan Chart and Sainsbury’s lead FTSE 100 risers – London Report June 10, 2015 BRITAIN’S main equity index rallied from three-month lows yesterday, led by advances in banking group Standard Chartered and supermarket chain Sainsbury. Standard Chartered rose 5.8 per cent, with traders citing the possibility that British finance minister George Osborne might announce changes in a tax on the British banking industry when he spoke last night. Any [...]
Three things to expect from the M&S full-year results on Wednesday May 18, 2015 If City analysts are anything to go by, this Wednesday could be a good one for Marks & Spencer's chief executive Marc Bolland. The troubled high street giant is forecast to post its first full-year rise in profits for four years. M&S has invested billions of pounds trying to improve the 798-strong store portfolio, up [...]
Apple Pay in the UK: These are the retailers and restaurants signed up for the July launch June 9, 2015 Some of the UK's biggest retailers are lining up to start accepting Apple Pay when it launches in the UK next month. As well as being able to use your iPhone or Apple Watch to seamlessly glide through ticket barriers on the Tube, the Silicon Valley giant has its finger hovering over the button [...]
July Budget 2015: Living wage bill hurts retailers and small firms July 8, 2015 Retail and hospitality industry insiders warned yesterday that their sectors face a huge rise in labour costs after a Tory pledge to introduce a minimum wage of £9 for over-25s by 2020. From April next year, businesses will be required to pay £7.20 per hour to workers over the age of 25, rising to [...]
Tesco keeps clawback of Clarke’s pay-off in sight May 21, 2015 TESCO said yesterday that it could still claw back a £1.5m pay-off made to former chief executive Philip Clarke if new evidence of misconduct during his time at the retailer came to light. Tesco was forced to suspend its own internal probe into practices that led the company overstating profits by £263m when the Serious [...]
BHS brand is losing its homeliness to high street rivals – Brand Index March 24, 2015 BHS is one of Britain’s most recognisable retailers, but has experienced troubles in recent years, prompting Sir Philip Green to sell the company for £1 to Retail Acquisitions. The new owner is already looking into the possible closures of a third of the chain’s 171 stores. YouGov BrandIndex underlines the difficulty BHS has had competing [...]
City Moves for 29 May 2015 | Who’s switching jobs May 28, 2015 EC Harris The natural and built asset design and consultancy firm has appointed James Crawley as an associate partner in its development management and consultancy team. Based in Leeds, he joins from Calderdale Council. Crawley has also held roles at Muse Developments and M&G Real Estate. OM Asset Management Trevedi Tewari has been appointed head [...]
Marks & Spencer’s chairman Robert Swannell joins remuneration committee as SABMiller chairman Jan du Plessis steps down March 4, 2015 Marks & Spencer chairman Robert Swannell is joining the high street giant's remuneration committee after a shake up of the non-executive board. The move has been prompted by the departure of SABMiller chairman Jan du Plessis, who is stepping down from the Marks & Spencer board today (March 4). Du Plessis, who has [...]
B&M eyes more stores as sales jump by a third May 28, 2015 Bargain retail chain B&M has hiked its store expansion targets after reporting a near 30 per cent jump in revenue in its first year as a public company. The company, which sells everything from toys to electrical goods and furniture, yesterday said sales jumped 29.5 per cent to £1.6bn in the year to 28 March, [...]
John Lewis is named the retailer with the strongest reputation March 19, 2015 Middle-class shoppers’ favourite John Lewis was yesterday declared the retailer with the best reputation in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), a survey found. The survey, by the Reputation Institute, also showed that among the firms whose reputation had improved the most between 2013 and 2014 were WH Smith and H&M. However, there was bad [...]