The average British consumer will spend almost half their monthly salary on Christmas, and many won’t pay off debts until March November 21, 2016 By March, Christmas is the last thing on your mind. But one in five British consumers are still paying off Christmas gifts three months or more down the line. The average shopper is set to spend almost half their monthly pay on Christmas, and 6 per cent will spend in excess of a month's salary, a new study [...]
BHS’ bosses’ cash comes under pressure from pensions lifeboat November 20, 2016 The pensions lifeboat is pushing for legal action to claw back funds from former BHS directors. The once high street staple fell into administration back in April, and was running a deficit worth £571m for its 20,000 member-strong pension schemes at the time. The department store chain's collapse, which ultimately resulted in the closure of over [...]
Holiday shoppers are undeterred by the referendum result, but they choose deals over brand loyalty November 20, 2016 Black Friday sales are cropping up all around the UK, but while holiday shopping is set to be strong this year, the major discounting event might not be as profitable for retailers as what comes next. Nearly 40 per cent of shoppers are waiting for the best discounts to come after Christmas and New Year, [...]
Premium pub and craft beer investments are expected to translate to profit ahead of Marston’s full-year results November 20, 2016 Marston's is set to unveil an upswing in profits this week because of the company's investment into premium food and craft beers. The pub chain, which has an estate of about 1,600 pubs in the UK, including premium chains Pitcher & Piano and Revere, is expected to reveal a jump in full-year profits to £98.3m from £31.3m [...]
Mothercare’s shares are down and profits are expected to fall ahead of this week’s interim results November 20, 2016 Mothercare is expected to report a drop in pre-tax profits in its interim results this week as shares fail to recover from overseas trading fears. Mothercare's shares closed at 109.7 on Friday, halving from the beginning of the year. Read more: Mothercare takes baby steps with first profit in five years Despite a rise of 1.2 per cent [...]
Tesco to build homes on top of London superstores and carparks in bid to raise £400m from extensive property November 20, 2016 Tesco is in talks to build homes on top of its London stores and car parks in a bid to squeeze more value out of its massive land holdings. The supermarket giant hopes that the bold strategy could earn up to £400m. The homes, which could potentially number in the thousands, would take advantage of [...]
There are now 50/1 odds Dragons’ Den star Peter Jones will be the UK’s next Prime Minister November 19, 2016 If British politics follows the US example, allowing an outsider businessman to ascend to the helm of the nation, Peter Jones could soon be swapping the set of Dragons' Den for Number 10. There are now 50/1 odds that Jones will be the UK's next Prime Minister, according to online betting site BetStars, after the entrepreneur [...]
Alcohol industries call for duty freezes in Autumn Statement to distill Brexit fears November 18, 2016 The beer and spirit industries are hopeful for another year of duty freezes, while the wine sector looks for a levelled playing field ahead of Philip Hammond’s Autumn Statement. Earlier this year, George Osborne froze the duty rates on beer, spirits and most ciders, but most wines and higher strength sparkling cider were set to go up, [...]
Your bagged salad is a Salmonella risk November 18, 2016 Researchers at the University of Leicester have found that juices in salad bags are a breeding ground for Salmonella. Even tiny amounts of juices leaching from salad leaves can encourage the pathogen to grow, and the juices also allow particularly dangerous strains of the microbe to thrive. Read more: #Marmitegate: Tesco boss warns suppliers against hiking [...]
Fuller’s facing unappetising cocktail of Brexit, living wage and business rate increases despite outperforming the market in first half November 18, 2016 Fuller's insisted it has "outperformed the market" in the first half of the financial year but cautioned that it faces an unappetising brew of Brexit, the onset of the National Living Wage and business rate changes. Overall revenue at the pub operator and brewer grew 11 per cent to £197.6m in the six months to 24 September, up [...]