Black Friday Cyber Monday 2015 UK sales figures are in: UK shoppers spent £3.3bn over the weekend December 1, 2015 Start popping those corks – Black Friday was just as big as everyone had hoped it would be. Black Friday cracked the £1bn sales mark for the first time ever and total sales over the shopping weekend totaled more than £3bn. In fact, shoppers spent £1.1bn, according to IMRG and Experian, which totted up the figures. That number comes [...]
Ryanair is suing Google over search results December 1, 2015 Ryanair is suing Google in Ireland following repeated requests to remove travel comparison site eDreams from search results for the airline. The Irish budget carrier claims eDreams is misleading customers due to similar website layouts. eDreams uses the URL Ryanair.EDreams.co.uk and sells tickets for Ryanair flights with added fees. It follows a successful move by the airline [...]
Insurance company Axa ventures further into India, increasing its stake in its joint venture December 1, 2015 Axa has today revealed that it is increasing its stake in its Indian joint venture companies. The insurer announced that it would be raising its holding in the life and general insurance ventures, Bharti AXA Life Insurance Co and Bharti AXA General Insurance Co, from 26 per cent to 49 per cent in a bid [...]
Marks & Spencer looks to solve legal wrangle with former landlord BNP Paribas December 1, 2015 It’s not just individuals that quibble with their landlords. Marks & Spencer (M&S) is tomorrow hoping to settle a long-running dispute with former landlord BNP Paribas over rent it claims to have overpaid on its old Paddington offices. In July 2011, the high street retailer exercised a break in its leases and served notice on four floors of [...]
St Modwen on track to hit profit targets thanks to New Covent Garden Market boost and regional revival December 1, 2015 St Modwen said it is on track hit full-year profit forecasts, spurred on the by ongoing recovery in the regions, strong investor demand, and a massive valuation gain from its New Covent Garden market scheme. The FTSE 250 company, which is redeveloping Britain’s biggest flower and vegetable market, said occupational demand for its offices in the [...]
Zurich boss Martin Senn steps down after 10 years with the company December 1, 2015 Zurich announced today that its chief executive Martin Senn is stepping down, leaving the company at the end of the year. Tom de Swaan, who has been a member of the company’s board of directors since 2006 and chairman since 2013, has been appointed interim chief executive. A permanent successor for Senn, who has spent [...]
Shares in Home Retail rally over Homebase bid rumours December 1, 2015 Shares in Home Retail Group rose more than three per cent yesterday on the back of reports that the former boss of Garden Centre Group is considering a bid for Homebase. Nicholas Marshall, who stepped down as chief executive of the rival garden retail chain – now called Wyevale Garden Centres – in 2012, told [...]
Petra Diamonds’ share price rallies as banks waive some debt covenants and it agrees to buy De Beers’ Kimberley Mines December 1, 2015 Petra Diamonds’ share price skyrocketed today on the confirmation of its Kimberley mine deal and news lenders had agreed to waive some covenant tests. The company’s shares closed up 12.63 per cent, at 72.25p per share, leading the FTSE 250 higher. The group of lenders, including Absa Bank, FirstRand Bank, IFC and Nedbank, told Petra Diamonds they were [...]
Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Bond’s Spectre blockbusters help Pinewood profits higher December 1, 2015 The double film bonanzas of the year, latest Bond instalment Spectre and the new Star Wars franchise The Force Awakens, have given UK film studio Pinewood a nice boost. The figures Profit before tax for the first half of the year was up 13 per cent to £4.3m while the group's operating profit rocketed 187 [...]
Broadband battles: BT and Virgin Media trade blows over the government’s broadband delivery scheme December 1, 2015 Join us for the latest act in the telco giant drama: Virgin Media has lashed out against the government’s broadband scheme, complaining it gives BT an unfair advantage to the tune of hundreds of millions of pounds out of taxpayers’ pockets. BT and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) have hit back at claims, [...]