Black Friday 2015: Argos quashes outage rumours as John Lewis website goes down November 27, 2015 Argos has quashed talk of an outage on its website, saying it has already had 2.5 million visits to its website – just as John Lewis' website collapsed under the pressure as Black Friday's shopping frenzy continued apace. In a statement, Argos said its website had "not crashed or seen any outages at any point today". "We are seeing [...]
Christmas adverts 2015: Aldi has just spoofed John Lewis’ Man on the Moon ad November 26, 2015 As day is followed by night, so too is John Lewis' Christmas advert followed by a series of spoofs. So far the selection has been pretty dark, including imagining the Man on the Moon as the evil Emperor from the Star Wars trilogy (and blowing up Earth once he can see where it is). Now Aldi has [...]
Lego “not planning any future promotional activity” with Daily Mail amid protests at recent coverage November 12, 2016 Lego is “not planning any future promotional activity” with the Daily Mail, in an apparent protest at its editorial content. Stop Funding Hate, a group campaigning for companies like John Lewis and Waitrose to pull advertising from certain tabloid newspapers, has claimed the move by Lego as a victory. DMGT, the owner of the Daily Mail, [...]
Fenwick family takes out £5m dividend despite warning on new cost pressures October 23, 2016 The Fenwick family has taken a £4.8m from their department store chain while warning about the pressure government is placing on the retail sector. According to accounts for the year to the end of January 2016, the company's sales rose by 1.2 per cent in the past year, reaching £431.7m. Pre-tax profits were up by a quarter [...]
Revealed: The best places to work in the UK December 7, 2016 Businesses can breath a sigh of relief – the trend of trying to emulate Google's particular brand of work environment with bean bags, slides, hot desking and food freebies might just be over. The tech company has slipped out of the top 10 best places to work list for the first time, coming 13th in the annual ranking by [...]
Next’s shares tumble after company issues profit warning January 4, 2017 Next's shares have taken a hammering today after the retailer issued a profit warning. The retailer cut its profit forecast for 2017-18 to a range of £680m-£780m. Analysts had estimated the forecast would be £784m. Following the announcement, Next's share price tumbled by 12 per cent. Next's shares have now fallen nearly 50 per cent since [...]
Boxing day sales 2015: UK shoppers expected to spend over £3bn as John Lewis and Selfridges enjoy strong starts December 26, 2015 British shoppers are expected to spend heavily in this year's Christmas sales, with stores such as John Lewis already boasting of strong trading figures. According to figures from the Centre for Retail Research and vouchercodes.co.uk, around 22m shoppers will spend £3.74bn in sales this festive period – a six per cent increase on last year. Department [...]
Tesco has unveiled its Black Friday 2016 deals: Laptops and tablets and bikes, oh my November 24, 2016 The supermarkets may be suffering from competition from discounters, but on Black Friday that all goes out of the window as they come over all Aldi and go berserk for deals. Tesco is no exception – it's so keen it's already launched some deals. Check out the best ones for Black Friday itself. Read more: [...]
Now Heathrow Airport’s trying to swoop in on the Christmas ad battle with this tear-jearker featuring two teddy bears November 17, 2016 First it was John Lewis that routinely took the crown for best Christmas ad. But in recent years other retailers have been upping the ante – from Sainsbury's to M&S to Waitrose's adorable robin. And now, not content with winning the battle over airport expansion (for now), Heathrow Airport has unveiled its very first Christmas ad [...]
Black Friday 2015 UK: John Lewis staff banned from using discounts on sales items November 27, 2015 John Lewis has banned employees from using their staff discounts on its Black Friday promotions online. Although staff are allowed to make use of their partner discount – 12 per cent off electricals and 25 per cent on other goods – in store, they have been blocked from using it online. The department store told This [...]