Double digit trading rise at John Lewis November 26, 2010 UPMARKET retailer John Lewis has reported strong trading figures over the past week after festive shoppers turned out to spend on Christmas. The department store chain took £88m in the week ending Saturday 20 November was up 11.5 per cent on the same period in 2009 and 29 per cent higher than 2008, the company [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS December 9, 2010 NEW INVESTMENT MANAGER AT SPARK Albion Ventures has been appointed the investment manager of SPARK VCT and SPARK VCT 2, both technology venture capital investment funds. SPARK is planning to move its fund management focus away from retail funds and towards regional and institutional funds, and is bringing in a new manager to try to achieve that. They also [...]
CAR TALK November 30, 2010 SNOW SOCKS FOR YOUR CAR Ok so the big freeze is here. And the British don’t generally take much of a Scandinavian approach to fitting snow chains to their cars, mainly because we just can’t be arsed. Luckily Vauxhall is selling Snow Socks for cars – a kind of motoring equivalent of non-slip socks – [...]
Cost of snow hitting home January 6, 2011 BRITAIN’S economy took a hammering from the winter freeze, with the service sector contracting in December and retailers being hit, it was revealed yesterday. The country’s largest sector experienced its first decline for 20 months, stalling the recovery. The business activity index, compiled by Markit and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS), dropped [...]
Cost of snow hitting home January 6, 2011 BRITAIN’S economy took a hammering from the winter freeze, with the service sector contracting in December and retailers being hit, it was revealed yesterday. The country’s largest sector experienced its first decline for 20 months, stalling the recovery. The business activity index, compiled by Markit and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS), dropped [...]
Speakeasy cocktails come to Chinatown January 19, 2011 WHILE the new year has already seen a fresh batch of new London openings, one of the most original happened just before Christmas with the small but extremely endearing Parisian import, the Experimental Cocktail Club (www.chinatownecc.com). Touching down in Chinatown, an unusual destination address for discerning cocktail aficionados, ECC is nestled innocuously amongst the dim [...]
ECB takes its foot off the gas in bond purchase programme December 20, 2010 THE European Central Bank (ECB) slowed its rate of sovereign bond purchases significantly last week, figures out yesterday showed. The ECB bought €600m’s (£507m) worth of gilts in the week to last Friday, marking a sharp downward shift from its purchases of €2.7bn, €2bn and €1.3bn in the previous three weeks respectively. Last week also saw [...]
ECB takes its foot off the gas in bond purchase programme December 20, 2010 THE European Central Bank (ECB) slowed its rate of sovereign bond purchases significantly last week, figures out yesterday showed. The ECB bought €600m’s (£507m) worth of gilts in the week to last Friday, marking a sharp downward shift from its purchases of €2.7bn, €2bn and €1.3bn in the previous three weeks respectively. Last week also saw [...]
Cut down your energy bills December 16, 2010 IT HAS been a sad few weeks for anyone with a gas or electricity bill to pay. Last week, Npower announced plans to increase electricity and gas prices by 5.1 per cent, bringing to four the number of big energy companies hiking rates this Christmas, bringing the average household’s bill to £1,210. And just yesterday, [...]
Three ways to save your pennies overseas December 16, 2010 IF THE estimates of the Association of British Travel Agents (Abta) are to be believed, nearly 4m of us will be heading abroad over Christmas. But whether you’re escaping to sunnier climes or hitting the slopes, here are three tips to help you avoid parting with your cash. 1 BEST CREDIT CARD TO TAKE ABROAD [...]