Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn finalises shadow cabinet reshuffle after resignations January 7, 2016 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has finalised his shadow cabinet after three shadow ministers resigned yesterday, leaving spots on the front bench open. Jonathan Reynolds, Stephen Doughty and Kevan Jones all quit yesterday over a number of issues with Corbyn's reshuffle. Read more: How this week has defined what politics in 2016 will look like Corbyn has [...]
Halfords’ share price jumps as company cuts costs to keep profit on track January 21, 2016 Halfords's share price jumped this morning after the group cut back expected costs in its retail arm, enabling it to keep its profit guidance unchanged following muted third quarter sales. The figures Total revenues for the 15 weeks to 15 January were up 0.4 per cent across the group, but for its retail division sales actually fell 0.3 per [...]
Toilet brushes, tables and mysterious purchases: should MPs treat expenses the same as the rest of us? May 19, 2016 Is a toilet brush a legitimate expense claim? MPs must reconsider what they claim for In this, the era of austerity, the UK public have been accustomed to hearing that we are only ever a few steps away from falling off a metaphoric economic cliff. “We are all in this’ together,” is the message from our politicians. [...]
Antibiotics not finger-licking good for KFC as McDonald’s and Costco vow to end sale of drug-raised chickens March 12, 2015 KFC is likely to come under pressure from consumer and environmental groups to change how its poultry are raised after McDonald’s said it would no longer sell chicken raised with human antibiotics. McDonald’s announced last week it will phase out chicken raised with antibiotics for human health over two years to allay concern that use [...]
Venture Capital investing in the UK reaches $1.3bn in the last quarter of 2015, bucking global trends January 21, 2016 Venture Capital firms invested $1.3bn (£910m) in UK companies in the last three months of 2015, capping off a record-breaking year. In total, UK start-ups received $4.75bn in venture capital funding last year from 400 deals, according to the latest data from KPMG and venture capital database CB Insights. This bucked the global trend: there was a 30 [...]
Deutsche Bank and Citi use this personality test to find ‘millennial talent’ — take a look October 7, 2016 Companies as varied as Deutsche Bank, Reebok, and Airbnb are turning to Seattle startup Koru to help them recruit graduates. Koru, founded in 2013, uses machine learning and predictive analytics to predict whether candidates will be the right "fit" for a company. Applicants are made to take a 20-minute online test that measures seven personality [...]
EU mulls McDonald’s tax probe: Margrethe Vestager considers investigation into sweetheart deals May 5, 2015 The EU’s competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager is considering adding McDonald’s to the list of companies being investigated over sweetheart tax deals. The Danish commissioner is weighing up an inquiry following claims by campaigners and unions of an alleged deal with Luxembourg that allowed the fast-food chain to massively reduce its tax bill on European sales. A [...]
Watford’s Steve Easterbrook lays out turnaround plans for McDonald’s to halt flagging sales May 5, 2015 The Brit tasked with stemming flagging sales at McDonald’s unveiled his masterplan to reverse the slide yesterday – by slimming down the fast food chain’s structure, cutting costs and selling more outlets to franchisees. Steve Easterbrook, the Watford-born accountant who spent two decades at McDonald’s British HQ in east Finchley, said he aimed [...]
Halfords turnaround plans steps up a gear after sales missed expectations November 12, 2015 Halfords is literally stepping up a gear on its plans to rebuild the company. The cycle business has just completed a three-year initial strategy called "Getting into Gear" – and is now replacing that with a new initiative called "Moving Up a Gear". See what they did there? The new strategy has five key "pillars": investing in [...]
McDonald’s UK chief exec quits to join Halfords March 23, 2015 MCDONALD’S UK chief executive Jill McDonald is to leave her namesake after taking the top job at Halfords, the bikes-to-car parts retailer. McDonald joined the American fast food chain in 2006 as chief marketing officer before being promoted to UK chief executive and president of its Northern Europe region in 2010. Her departure comes less [...]