One third of Brits have already started Christmas shopping September 17, 2015 If you haven’t already done your Christmas shopping, then you might want to get stuck in because a third of UK shoppers are already one step ahead of you this season. A survey conducted by New York-listed technology company Rubicon Project found that 30 per cent of us have already started Christmas shopping. Among parents [...]
Amazon Fresh launches in London: Some postcodes now get one-hour chilled and frozen food deliveries through Prime Now October 8, 2015 Amazon is delivering fresh chilled and frozen food in selected London postcodes for the first time, testing out the waters for Amazon Fresh. A fresh pint of milk, tub of Ben and Jerry's or a packet of fish fingers for tea can be on some Londoners' doorsteps in less than 60 minutes with the new delivery service [...]
Inflation likely to have dipped during August – London Report September 13, 2015 UNEMPLOYMENT figures out this week are expected to show a stable labour market, while elsewhere economists are forecasting a dip in inflation and retail sales. Data out tomorrow is expected to show that consumer price inflation dipped back to zero per cent in August, after rising to 0.1 per cent in July zero per cent [...]
Flickr and Slack founder Stewart Butterfield on starting one of the fastest growing startups ever January 4, 2016 "I lived in Cambridge in the late 1990s, and even then they were working on Silicon Fen,” says Stewart Butterfield. We’re talking about replicating Silicon Valley because, as the founder of Flickr and now team collaboration tool Slack, he’s well placed to comment. And it’s not that he’s picking on Cambridge; the point is that [...]
Houlihan Lokey buys boutique firm McQueen July 22, 2015 BOUTIQUE investment bank Houlihan Lokey has taken over London-based corporate advisory McQueen in a deal giving it a bigger presence in North America and London. The deal, terms of which were not disclosed, will see McQueen’s 45 staff in London, New York, Chicago, Dallas, and San Francisco merge into Houlihan Lokey’s consumer team. McQueen is [...]
From Uber and the Night Tube to Megabrew and Amazon Fresh: Here’s what got us talking this week October 16, 2015 It was a week in which an eagle gave us a glimpse of its view of London. We learned how much fare dodgers are getting away with (and where are the stations giving them a free ride). And we discovered that, while spiralising is in, sexy pants are definitely out. Here's what got us talking this week [...]
Sinking supermarkets: Tesco has had a disastrous year. Can it recover? June 18, 2015 The UK’s supermarkets were once investment darlings. The likes of Tesco and Sainsbury’s emerged on the stock markets, radically changed our shopping habits and then rose to dominance on the FTSE 100. But times have changed, and the supermarkets have been down on their luck. Are they still worthwhile investments? “Part of the [...]
Supermarket price war attracts short sellers to record positions in sector June 9, 2015 It's no secret UK supermarkets have been under the cosh both in terms of the ongoing price war with discounters Aldi and Lidl, as well as several problems of their own making. Now it seems short sellers are making hay while the sun shines. The sector has attracted record interest from short sellers, with [...]
Price war prompts a record high of bets against Supermarket giants June 9, 2015 HEDGE funds are making record bets against the health of the supermarket sector, with the average interest in the UK’s four listed grocers breaking the 11 per cent barrier for the first time. Sainsbury’s and Morrisons are now the two most-shorted constituents of the FTSE 100 behind oilfield services provider Petrofac, according to a report published [...]
Morrisons share price rises, despite 6.3 per cent fall in sales as Ocado tie-in fails to deliver November 6, 2014 If Tesco can take any consolation from its nightmare few months, it only has to look at rival Morrisons to realise it’s not in its struggle against the might of the discounters alone. In its third quarter results statement, Morrisons shortened its underlying profit before tax expectations after it recorded a drop in sales [...]