What M&S’s new boss Steve Rowe can learn from Sir Alex Ferguson about crafting a winning business January 11, 2016 "It's a bit like being asked to be England football manager… you don’t turn it down.” These were the words of one analyst when Marc Bolland, soon to be former Marks & Spencer chief executive, took the retail hot seat back in 2009. Now, like so many England managers, he departs with a sense that adversity [...]
Brown Thursday, Black Friday, Super Sunday, Cyber Monday 2015: When are the best deals going to be on offer? November 27, 2015 The UK has finally woken up to the pre-Christmas sales bonanza that has been building in the US for many years. Cyber Monday was the first to hit our shores, and, since 2009, has been the biggest single online sales day in the UK. But this year other US imports are gaining traction. What [...]
City Moves for 31 August 2016 | Who’s switching jobs August 31, 2016 Game Digital Game Digital has appointed Guy Lister as chief operating officer. The newly created role, reporting directly to Game Digital CEO, Martyn Gibbs, will see Guy lead all areas of Game Digital’s UK retail operations, including stores and eCommerce, supply chain, marketing and finance functions. Guy joins from Office Shoes where he was chief customer and marketing officer. [...]
The Battle for Virality: How the advertising industry stole Christmas November 14, 2016 Consumer capitalism is like an annual balloon, pumping in steady increments throughout the year. It grows and grows, stretching and straining around November, taut before the Black Friday Pin; the pressure too much, one prick and the balloon explodes in a relentless cloud of Christmas advertising. But where has this volley come from? We can’t even [...]
Christmas 2015: Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda predicted to clean up this festive season – but Aldi, M&S and Lidl will beat Morrisons November 10, 2015 Black Friday might be set to be less of a big deal this year but Christmas is going nowhere. In fact, the UK is expected to spend £16.5bn on food, drink and presents during the festive season – up 2.5 per cent from last year. That's an average of £442 per person, according to data from [...]
Wall Street sinks and FTSE 100 index closes below 6,000 after another turbulent day in China January 7, 2016 The Dow Jones recorded its worst four-day start to a year on record, following another day of turmoil in China, which also left the S&P 500 on track for its worst start to a year since 1928. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 2.32 percent, to 16,514.1, the S&P 500 dropped 2.37 per cent, and the Nasdaq lost [...]
The Mog effect? Sainsbury’s share price climbs as grocer outperforms Tesco, Asda and Morrisons as Kantar supermarket figures December 15, 2015 Could it be the Mog effect? Sainsbury's has beaten Tesco, Asda and Morrisons to become the best performing supermarket among the Big Four. In fact, Kantar Worldpanel figures show that Sainsbury's was the only grocer among the top spots to post a growth in sales for the 12 weeks to 6 December, up 1.2 per cent. Tesco and Asda had [...]
Marks & Spencer poaches John Lewis finance chief Helen Weir November 17, 2014 MARKS & Spencer has poached Helen Weir from John Lewis to become its news finance director. Weir will succeed Alan Stewart, who quit M&S in July to join Tesco, and was fast-tracked into the job in September, when Tesco discovered a black hole in its accounts. Weir has been CFO at John Lewis since 2012 [...]
EU referendum: Three ex-PMs Tony Blair, John Major and Gordon Brown band together to fight for pro-Europe “In” vote with Britain Stronger in Europe campaign group October 11, 2015 Three former Prime Ministers have joined forces to fight for the UK's membership of the European Union, according to reports. Sir John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown will support the campaign to keep the UK part of the European Union, which is expected to be called Britain Stronger in Europe. Former Marks & Spencer [...]
Davos 2016: An outlook as chilly as the setting January 22, 2016 So much for a fourth industrial revolution. It’s an inexorable law of the World Economic Forum that each year’s summit must be more crowded, expensive and pessimistic than the last. Whether it’s robotics, fintech or climate change, you can take your pick of this year’s buzz-themes – many dreamed up with the aid of handsomely [...]