Whitbread: Premier Inn owner thanks London travel boom for hike in hotel sales June 22, 2023 Tourists flocking to London for the King’s coronation helped bolster Premier Inn owner Whitbread’s trading in the first leg of the year, as the hotel group revealed an 18 per cent hike in sales. As Brits embraced travel and leisure after the pandemic, the chain of affordable hotels said sales across its 800 strong portfolio [...]
Arrested woman re-bailed until next year after Wimbledon school crash September 23, 2023 A woman arrested after a Land Rover crashed into a prep school in south-west London, killing two eight-year-old girls, has been re-bailed until January. Nuria Sajjad and Selena Lau died after a car crashed through a fence and collided with a building at The Study Prep school in Camp Road, Wimbledon, on the morning of [...]
Supermarket wars: Tesco rakes in £8.92bn of sales as clubcard points entice cash-strapped shoppers May 23, 2023 Tesco remains Britain’s favourite supermarket with clubcard points helping cash-strapped shoppers in the cost of living crisis – but Waitrose was given a sales boost thanks to luxury purchasing during the King’s Coronation. Figures released by Kantar show that in the 12 weeks to 15 May, ‘Big Four’ grocer Tesco raked in £8.92bn in sales [...]
King Charles will not appear on Australian banknote as Queen Elizabeth II’s portrait is replaced February 2, 2023 Queen Elizabeth II will no longer appear on the Australian $5 banknote and King Charles III will not replace her, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) said on Thursday. Her Majesty’s portrait will be swapped for an updated design which “honours the culture and history of the First Australians”, according to a statement from the [...]
Grocery inflation dips by just 0.2 per cent as Aldi now has a tenth of the market April 25, 2023 Grocery price inflation dipped slightly in April – but consumers are still paying 17.3 per cent more than this time last year, figures show. Kantar warned that the fall from last month’s 17.5 per cent only meant that prices were not increasing as quickly after 10 months of double-digit growth. As consumers continued to find [...]
Retail: Sixth wettest March on record dampens sales as shoppers’ fail to weather inflation hike April 21, 2023 Retail sales fell 0.9 per cent in March as wet weather conditions and high inflation hit consumer spending during the month. Despite Mother’s Day falling within the month retail, non-food sales such as clothing and homeware, fell by 1.3 per cent as the sixth wettest March on record since 1836 deterred shoppers from hitting the [...]
Friday’s GDP data ‘could be as good as it gets for a while’ August 7, 2023 Analysts expect UK GDP to have eked upwards in June, with official confirmation coming on Friday of this week. Resilience in consumer spending and better-than-expected PMI figures suggest the Office for National Statistics will declare the economy grew in June when it releases its monthly data later this week. Oxford Economics expects the ONS to [...]
Opera out to hit high notes in the Nassau July 31, 2024 THERE’s more Group One action to look forward to on today’s card from Glorious Goodwood, with the Nassau Stakes (3.35pm) for the fillies and mares. Aidan O’Brien has won four editions of the Nassau, but hasn’t triumphed since Winter’s victory in 2017, and the master of Ballydoyle relies on OPERA SINGER here. This daughter of [...]
Netflix and starve: Cash strapped Brits cut back on groceries and spend more on TV subscriptions April 11, 2023 Cash strapped Brits have cut back on grocery shopping and dining out last month, but spent more on streaming services services Netflix. Consumer card spending grew just 4.0 per cent year-on-year in March, less than half of the latest inflation rate of 9.2 per cent, as the cost of living crisis drives consumers to cut [...]
Met Police believe body found in the River Thames is Clapham attacker Abdul Ezedi February 20, 2024 Ezedi launched an attack with a corrosive substance earlier in the month, leaving a woman and her children with severe injuries, and in hospital.