Christmas adverts rated: Which retailer has made the best ad of 2016? November 12, 2016 Argos A gang of multicoloured yetis on ice skates stealing unattended electrical items from a pleasant-looking neighbourhood. Does anything say ‘come and visit our store’ less? ★☆☆☆☆ Aldi Good-looking food. But the poor carrot, Kevin, who we become attached to in this one-minute advert, is surely destined to meet an unfortunate ending. ★★★☆☆ Ebay Definitely [...]
Sandwich skills shortage? Pret a Manger boss Andrea Wareham is worried about filling jobs after Brexit March 9, 2017 Brexit may be putting your avocado habit under threat, after the HR boss of Pret a Manger admitted she will struggle to fill jobs if she is only allowed to hire British applicants. At a House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee hearing yesterday, Andrea Wareham said just one in 50 people applying for jobs at the [...]
John Lewis boss talks about “the Midlands Engine” and why Birmingham is the next major economic hub March 15, 2016 John Lewis boss Andy Street says Brum is booming, as he talks up the city in Cannes. Andy Street may be better known as managing director of one of the UK's biggest department stores John Lewis, but the Brummie born and bred was in Cannes donning a different cap today, promoting his home town as [...]
Watch: These are the 10 most-loved Christmas adverts of all time November 4, 2016 Rejoice, for 'tis the season to weep at schmaltzy Christmas ads, as retailers begin to launch festive offerings next week. To get you in the mood, video ad tech company Unruly has put together the definitive list of the most-shared (and therefore most loved) Christmas ads of all time. At number one is an ad [...]
Online sales soared by over 20 per cent on Cyber Monday November 30, 2016 Cyber Monday was bigger than ever this year, with online sales growing 22 per cent. Shoppers' appetite for cheap goods online has not waned. According to Worldpay, there were 133 payments per second, with global online sales peaking at 16.01. Read more: John Lewis just had the biggest week in its trading history Shane Happach, [...]
Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable uses parliamentary privilege to name Santander UK boss Nathan Bostock as “responsible” for RBS GRG’s strategy January 18, 2018 Former business secretary Vince Cable has used parliamentary privilege to allege that the current chief executive of Santander UK, Nathan Bostock, was “responsible” for the behaviour of the global restructuring group at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). The Liberal Democrat leader also said senior management at RBS knew or should have known about alleged unethical [...]
Watch the Sainsbury’s Christmas ad here – James Corden is on vocals November 14, 2016 We've had the festive offerings from Marks & Spencer, John Lewis and Aldi – and now the Sainsbury's Christmas ad has arrived. The supermarket has brought America's favourite Briton, James Corden, on board to take part in its musical extravaganza which "tells the story of Dave, a hard-working and devoted Dad, who realises that the greatest [...]
Retail group calls on government to reduce the burden of business rates February 13, 2017 Business rates have become unsustainable and must be lowered to allow companies to invest, a leading business group has told the government. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has warned chancellor Philip Hammond that property taxes need reform because they now represent a "disproportionate burden" to businesses. Read more: Culture shock: How London's theatres will be squeezed [...]
Sports Direct share price falls after unveiling plans for the UK’s first board worker rep March 9, 2017 Mike Ashley's Sports Direct said it was breaking new ground in good corporate governance after announcing it is kicking off the process to elect the UK's first board worker representative. All "directly-engaged workers" can put their names in the hat for the high-profile role and the firm will then conduct an extensive "assessment" process, before putting a selection of candidates forward [...]
Moneysupermarket announces share buyback after growing profits February 28, 2017 Moneysupermarket Group is launching a £40m share buyback after reporting increased revenue and profit for the year to 31 December 2016. The figures Group revenue rose 12 per cent to £316.4m from £281.7m. Operating profit was up 13 per cent to £91.1m from £80.5m, while profit after tax grew by 16 per cent to hit [...]