Powder White’s co-founder Fraser Ewart-White on ski lifts, Khazakstan and the credit crunch October 4, 2015 When do the best business ideas come to you? For Fraser Ewart-White, it was while swinging on a chair-lift 1500m above sea level. Ewart-White had recently left his job as head of buying at the entertainment company Blockbuster, turning his back on his career to study for an MBA and, among other great ambitions, to [...]
Editor’s notes: Brexit has damaged economists, not the economy October 28, 2016 A couple of years ago I interviewed Saatchi & Saatchi’s global CEO, Robert Senior. As we discussed possible future advertising trends he said “my problem with futurologists is that they’re never held to account”. He meant that predictions of what life will be like in 100 years are very hard to hold up in front [...]
Heads, shoulders, knees and toes: the cost of footballing injuries August 12, 2016 Injuries cost English Premier League clubs over £157m in wages last year, taking the total cost over the last five years to an eye-watering £0.7bn. Not afraid to complain about injuries, Arsene Wenger's concerns appear to be substantiated as Arsenal players were on the sidelines for a total of 1,553 days during the 2015/16 season. However this only put them second on [...]
Rugby World Cup 2015 and faster delivery times helps House of Fraser as half-year sales jump September 26, 2015 Department store chain House of Fraser has hailed a jump in sales over the first half, boosted by further improvements to its online offer including faster delivery times. The company, which was taken over by Chinese consortium Nanjing Xinjiekou last year, said like-for-like sales were up 6.5 per cent, with gross total value (GTV) rising to £574.2m in the six [...]
Furniture chain ScS narrows losses as sales heat up April 12, 2016 Furniture chain ScS said losses narrowed in the first half of the year as demand for its sofas and flooring reached a record high. The figures The retailer, which floated last year, said its like-for-like order intake – which reflects sales it has not yet booked – rose by 9.1 per cent in the six months [...]
Brexit vote? What Brexit vote? The rise of the discounters is still hitting supermarkets’ market shares July 26, 2016 The results of last month's EU referendum may have sent markets reeling, but it seems the supermarket sector has continued as it was before – namely, with market shares sinking for all of the big four. Figures by Kantar Worldpanel showed the Brexit vote had "no immediate impact" on the prices retailers were charging or [...]
City Moves for 25 May 2016 | Who’s switching jobs May 25, 2016 Carter Jonas Carter Jonas has recruited Paul Astbury as a partner and new head of compulsory purchase, working within its infrastructure team. Paul, who will be based out of Carter Jonas’ HQ in London, will work closely with the planning and development teams across the country, providing a market-leading compulsory purchase service to local authorities [...]
Olympics must watch events: Usain Bolt, Jessica Ennis-Hill, Mo Farah, Danny Willett, Andy Murray and more…there’s plenty to watch this weekend August 11, 2016 The Rio Olympics could catch fire this weekend when a long list of familiar faces and returning heroes make their Rio bows. Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis-Hill, Jo Pavey, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Usain Bolt and Greg Rutherford are all in action. Excited yet? Here’s what not to miss this weekend. Friday Rio’s Olympic Stadium will stage competition for the first [...]
UK advertisers have most faith in Paloma, who is enjoying the good life June 10, 2016 Paloma Faith sold out more than just concert venues last year. New research has today named her as the most popular popstar among advertisers. Faith was the artist of choice for four major brands – Calvin Klein, Dixons, Simply Be and Eastern Western – in 2015, according to research by Adbreakanthems and BPI. Read more: [...]
Sainsbury’s gives up its discount dreams as it ditches Netto UK stores July 4, 2016 Sainsbury's is ditching its partnership with European discounter Netto and plans to close 16 Netto UK stores in August. The joint venture between Dansk Supermarked Group's (DSG) Netto and Sainsbury's began in June 2014; around 400 jobs in the stores are now at risk as Sainsbury's focuses instead on its acquisition of Argos owner Home Retail Group. Read more: Sainsbury's has named new chief executive [...]