Rose: Shoppers can cope October 25, 2010 Stuart Rose, chairman of bellwether British retailer Marks & Spencer, said consumers can cope with government spending cuts and retail sales will grow next year, even though trading will be tough. “I believe that consumers want clarity and what the chancellor did last week was give consumers absolute clarity about what to expect,” Rose said [...]
Nintendo hit as high yen takes its toll on business October 28, 2010 NINTENDO yesterday reported a half-year loss after being hit by falling sales and the high value of the yen, which lowers its overseas earnings. The Japanese computer games firm posted a net loss of 2bn yen (£15.6m) for the six months to 30 September. This compares with a net profit of 69.5bn yen for the [...]
How to cut perks without making your team hate you October 27, 2010 I have been asked to get rid of some of my staff’s perks in order to save money, but I am worried about the effect this will have on morale. How can I do this without causing resentment and discord? Ceri Roderick Business psychologist, Pearn Kandola Taking away people’s perks is always problematic – they [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 11, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES SMARTPHONES IN HACKING RISK Certain smartphone models running Google’s Android operating system have security flaws that could allow hackers to steal personal information or record conversations, researchers said this week. In a demonstration at the Black Hat security conference in Abu Dhabi, a UK researcher showed how a vulnerability in the web browser [...]
Stockholm Syndrome and Dementors rule the law December 21, 2010 A HARD year for the City’s legal market is drawing to a close, and lawyers at those firms that haven’t cancelled their Christmas parties are looking forward to a booze-filled lead up to the New Year. And giving their two cents in RollOnFriday’s annual Firm of the Year survey. There seems to be little festive [...]
John Lewis sees £88m in week’s sales November 22, 2010 SHOPPERS have been flocking to buy goods in the run up to Christmas, according to John Lewis’ latest sales figures, released today. Last week £88m was spent in the department store, a 12 per cent jump from the same time last year. New gadgets are selling well, such as Kindle Readers, iPads, iPods and SLR [...]
Banks propel FTSE upwards after interest rates decision December 9, 2010 BANKS helped Britain’s top shares rise yesterday after the Bank of England kept interest rates and quantitative easing measures unchanged, while US jobs figures raised hopes that a recovery was under way. The FTSE 100 was up 13.43 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 5,807.96, eradicating Wednesday’s losses, though gains were muted, with some traders [...]
Securitas eyes new UK deals November 17, 2010 THE chief executive of Securitas, one of the world’s largest security companies, is warning that the global threat posed by terrorism is escalating while vigilance at airports means travellers will have to pay the price with longer queues. The company Alf Goransson leads provides security at four airports in the UK, including Liverpool and the [...]
Greene King posts “strapping” interims December 3, 2010 BREWER and pub group Greene King today released interim results to toast, with profit before tax increasing 17 per cent to £73m. The better-than-expected results were driven by strong food sales and expansion of its managed pubs arm, and saw group revenues rise 4.2 per cent, to £484m from £464.5m a year earlier, in the [...]
Greene King posts “strapping” interims December 3, 2010 BREWER and pub group Greene King today released interim results to toast, with profit before tax increasing 17 per cent to £73m. The better-than-expected results were driven by strong food sales and expansion of its managed pubs arm, and saw group revenues rise 4.2 per cent, to £484m from £464.5m a year earlier, in the [...]