Woman leaves her house to donate old clothes to charity, comes back with a £800,000 house December 15, 2015 Impulsive Christmas purchases took a rather excessive turn this week, after a well-heeled woman ventured out into the cold to donate a couple of old coats to charity and came back with the deed to a house in South Ken. The un-named buyer visited Chestertons, in Kensington High Street, to drop off some old winterwear [...]
FTSE 100 index trades lower on miners despite gains in Royal Mail’s share price, BAE Systems and Sainsbury’s January 6, 2016 The FTSE 100 index was trading lower in early afternoon trading as miners became lighter after gains made yesterday. The UK's blue-chip index fell 1.58 per cent to 6,040 points, despite a strong jump by Royal Mail. Royal Mail's share price rose 1.14 per cent to 442.2p, the day after its stock was upgraded to "buy" from "hold" by Cantor Fitzgerald, [...]
Out-going Waitrose boss to join Cabinet Office board as non-exec director November 9, 2015 Mark Price, the out-going managing director of up-market grocer Waitrose, is set to join the Cabinet Office board as a non-executive director. Price shocked the industry when he announced he would be stepping down from his role at Waitrose and deputy chairman of the John Lewis Partnership after 33 years with the company just last [...]
Sainsbury’s set for £1.3bn Argos deal: Supermarket and Home Retail Group could announce agreement today February 1, 2016 Sainsbury's is close to clinching a £1.3bn deal to buy Home Retail Group after improving its offer ahead of today’s deadline. The supermarket chain made an initial bid of around £1bn for the Argos owner in November, saying a combination of the two businesses would create a retail empire to rival John Lewis and Amazon. [...]
Tesco’s getting into vinyl and will start selling records by Coldplay, George Ezra and classics from the Beatles, and Nirvana December 6, 2015 Music fans worried that the spectre of streaming is killing off the music industry, relax – here's one sign that vinyl still holds a place in people's hearts Now, along with supermarket staples such as bread and milk, shoppers can add the sounds of Coldplay, The Rolling Stones and Radiohead to there shopping basket, in LP format. [...]
Countdown to Christmas: From Volkswagen’s emissions scandal and Ed Ball’s surprise defeat at the General Election to the Paris terror attacks, these are the most surprising news stories of 2015 December 20, 2015 Some news you register with perhaps a shrug of the shoulder, while other stories might prompt an arched eyebrow. There are some events, however, that make you sit up and pay attention. This year was not without a few of those key moments – good and bad – that gripped us. Here are the most [...]
FTSE 100 index closes down as concerns over China cause mining stocks to fall January 6, 2016 The FTSE 100 index closed down today, dragged lower by mining stocks as concerns over China continued. The index closed 1.04 per cent down at 6,073 points, despite strong gains made by BAE Systems. "BAE topped the FTSE 100, as investors sought out defence stocks after North Korea’s nuclear weapon test," said Jasper Lawler, an analyst at [...]
Black Friday hits John Lewis’ Christmas sales January 2, 2015 He may have been a runaway hit, but not even Monty the Penguin could help John Lewis emulate the success of its Black Friday deals during the Christmas period. Sales at the retailer fell 1.4 per cent during the week of Christmas, with sales of electrical goods falling 14.7 per cent compared with the same [...]
Three of the best business books to read this Christmas: Nothing says “glad tidings” like a book on nudge theory December 2, 2015 Whether you need help deciding how many mince pies it is optimal to eat this Christmas, or how John Lewis has survived revolutions in the retail sector, City A.M. has been compiling a list of some of the best business books to enjoy over the festive period. Here are three. THINKING IRRATIONALLY Historically, the [...]
John Lewis calls for an end to heavy Black Friday discounting January 5, 2015 JOHN Lewis boss Andy Street has urged UK firms to hold back on Black Friday discounting because of its heavy cut to profits. The retailer’s managing director said the American-inspired sales day at the end of November gave John Lewis its biggest trading week on record, with sales up 22 per cent on last year, [...]