At the close: Mining companies Glencore, Anglo American and BHP Billiton take FTSE 100 higher November 4, 2015 The FTSE 100 ended Wednesday's session slightly higher, led by gains in mining companies. The UK's top blue chip index ended the day 0.46 per cent up at 6,412 points. The day's biggest riser was Glencore, the embattled mining giant, which has been struggling to reassure investors worried about the size of its debt pile. It today announced a [...]
Channel 4 bids to retain Lord Burns as chair September 21, 2015 Channel 4 is reported to be in talks with government officials and the media regulator, Ofcom, in a bid to retain Lord Burns as its chairman beyond the end of his second term in January. Discussions are taking place between Ofcom and the department for culture, media and sport (DCMS), according to Sky News, which [...]
Christmas 2014: Amazon delivering until December 24, while Marks & Spencer, House of Fraser and Asos face capacity problems December 16, 2014 Worried you've left it too late to order Christmas presents online? You need to get your skates on if you want to avoid paying for special delivery, but some retailers are offering premium services up to the last minute. A new survey of retailers has found a number of businesses that promise to deliver [...]
Tesco soars as M&S suffers a slump on buoyant trading – London Report January 8, 2015 LONDON’S shares rallied strongly yesterday, amid a broad-based global equities rally, with supermarkets topping the FTSE 100 gainers after Tesco outlined plans to try to revive its fortunes. The FTSE 100 closed up 2.3 per cent at 6,569.96. Tesco was the best-performing stock on the FTSE 100, closing up 15 per cent at 209.25p. The [...]
Ex-Sainsbury’s boss Justin King takes on first big role since leaving September 7, 2015 The former chief executive of Sainsbury's, Justin King, is set to take on his first major role since leaving the supermarket last year. King, who is widely credited with reversing the fortunes of the supermarket chain, is due to become vice-chairman of private equity firm Terra Firma Capital Partners. "A source close to Terra Firma [...]
Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane will answer questions on Twitter today September 14, 2015 A member of the Bank of England's rate-setting committee, chief economist Andy Haldane, will be answering questions about how the central bank should regulate financial markets in the UK on Twitter today. Haldane, who has been touted as a possible replace to ousted Financial Conduct Authority boss Martin Wheatley, will conduct the Twitter Q&A from the [...]
EU referendum: Politicians and business leaders line up to campaign for and against Brexit October 12, 2015 Heavyweight politicians and business leaders have nailed their colours to the mast in the debate over Britain’s EU membership by throwing their support behind the “in” and “out” campaigns, as referendum battle lines are drawn. The campaign for the UK to remain in the EU, Britain Stronger in Europe, officially launches today. Led by former Marks [...]
Lord Stuart Rose backs student property firm August 25, 2015 FORMER Marks & Spencer chairman Lord Stuart Rose has emerged as a surprise backer of Select Property Group, a developer and manager of student housing across the UK. Select said yesterday that Rose has invested a “multi-million pound” sum alongside Terry Green, the former boss of BHS and Debenhams. The privately owned group, which was [...]
Marks & Spencer share price leaps, despite 13th consecutive fall in clothing sales November 5, 2014 Shares in Marks & Spencer opened more than eight per cent higher this morning, after it posted expectation-beating half-year results – even though group profits before tax fell 0.4 per cent on the same period last year. In the the 26 weeks to 27 September, like-for-likes in clothing and general merchandise fell 2.2 per cent [...]
Black Friday 2015 UK date and deals: The best offers to expect on 27 November, plus who were the winners and losers from last year October 14, 2015 Black Friday is less than seven weeks away – it falls on 27 November this year – and already consumer sites are full of predictions for which deals we'll be falling over ourselves (and other people) to pick up in 2015. We spent £810m last year, with John Lewis celebrating its biggest sales week of [...]