Waitrose PYOO (“pick your own offers”) ups game in supermarket price wars with Aldi, Lidl and big four June 17, 2015 Middle England favourite Waitrose has upped the stakes in the supermarket price wars with what it's calling "game-changing" discounts. The latest salvo in the battle with Aldi, Lidl and the big four – and adding a new acronym to our lingo almost as good as BOGOF – is "Pick Your Own Offers", or PYOO, which is [...]
Former Nokia executive Stephen Elop jumps off his burning platform June 17, 2015 Stephen Elop has finally jumped off his burning platform after going from Microsoft to Nokia and then back again. He is leaving Microsoft, it was announced today, after moving to the tech giant as part of its $7.2bn (£4.58bn) acquisition of Nokia in 2013. He had worked for Microsoft's business division before joining the Finnish [...]
RBS missing payments blasted by Treasury Select Committee chairman Andrew Tyrie June 17, 2015 The Treasury Select Committee chairman has blasted RBS for the “serious” glitch that caused hundreds of thousands of payments to go missing. It emerged this morning that around 600,000 payments, including tax credits and benefits, had not been made overnight, leaving thousands of RBS, Natwest, Coutts and Ulster Bank customers stranded without enough cash [...]
RBS glitch affecting 600,000 payments for customers of RBS, Natwest, Coutts and Ulster not resolved until Saturday June 17, 2015 RBS has failed to put through around 600,000 payments for customers across the group as a result of a technical issue – and the money could be missing for several more days. RBS, Natwest, Coutts and Ulster Bank are all thought to have been affected by the issue, which was discovered first thing this [...]
Rangers shareholders vote against immediate repayment of Mike Ashley’s £5m loan June 17, 2015 More than half of Rangers' shareholders have voted against paying back Mike Ashley's £5m immediately. The Sports Direct founder and owner of Newcastle called a meeting at Ibrox on Friday – which he did not attend personally – seeking repayment of the loan as well as an explanation for why the club had delisted from [...]
Rupert Murdoch steps down as 21st Century Fox chief: Here’s a chart of every company his son James will inherit (and the News Corp empire) June 17, 2015 Rupert Murdoch has announced he will be stepping down from his post as chief executive of 21st Century Fox in two weeks. Read more: James Murdoch confirmed as new 21st Century Fox chief exec Murdoch’s son, James, will take over, leaving Rupert and his other son, Lachlan, as executive co-chairmen. Chase Carey, a career Murdoch man [...]
RBS share price falls as Natwest urgently investigates “missing” customer payments June 17, 2015 Natwest has launched an emergency investigation into “missing” customer payments caused by yet more computer glitches. The RBS-owned bank said this morning it was looking into the issue “as a matter of urgency”, telling customers it was a “technical issue with payments crediting”. It said those who needed to access funds today should [...]
UK house prices: Tony Pidgley’s Berkeley calls for Britain to stay in the EU as housebuilder’s profits rise 42 per cent June 17, 2015 London-centred residential property developer Berkeley Group announced a 42 per cent increase in full-year profits today, but warned a British exit from the EU would be bad for the capital's property market. Read more: How can the UK build more houses? In preliminary results for the year to the end of April, Berkeley stressed that the [...]
Betfair enjoys surge in profits as customer base grows by half June 17, 2015 Betfair Group enjoyed a surge in profits following a 52 per cent increase in its active customer base in 2015, leading to its chief executive saying the company is "well positioned for further growth". The figures Betfair's revenue for 2015 was up 21 per cent on 2014 – standing at £476.5m. This led to profits [...]
Whitbread chief Andy Harrison to leave earlier than planned as Alison Brittain prepares for top job June 16, 2015 Whitbread said yesterday that its new chief executive Alison Brittain would replace Andy Harrison two months earlier than planned as the company posted a 4.3 per cent rise in first quarter underlying sales. Harrison, who has helped Whitbread’s stock market value soar from £2.5bn to almost £10bn during his five years in the top job, [...]