UK grocery sector shows green shoots of recovery as distress levels fall October 19, 2015 Britain’s supermarket sector is showing signs of recovery, according to new research from Begbies Traynor that reveals the number of companies struggling to stay afloat declined for the first time in over two years. The business recovery specialist’s latest Red Flag Alert research, which monitors the health of UK companies, shows levels of “significant” financial [...]
UK footfall recovers in September but high streets lose out to retail parks October 19, 2015 Retailers enjoyed more visitors through their doors in September, boosted by the onset of the colder autumn weather and the August bank holiday falling into last month’s survey period. Footfall was almost flat on September last year, down by just 0.2 per cent, figures released today by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and retail analysts Springboard [...]
Investor feel-good factor made a return in October – Lloyds Bank October 19, 2015 Investor confidence picked up in October, according to research from Lloyds Bank. There was an improvement in eight out of 10 asset classes, although safe havens gold and UK government bonds saw a surprise dip in sentiment despite having the strongest performances. Overall investor net sentiment rose by four percentage points, taking it to an average [...]
UK dividends reached record heights in the third quarter – Capita Asset Services October 19, 2015 UK dividends reached record heights in the third quarter, hitting £27.2bn, but this is unlikely to prevent an annual slump in payouts. Figures from Capita Asset Services' dividend monitor forecasts that payments for 2015 will come in at £87.2bn, down 10.5 per cent from £97.4bn in last year. A series of special dividends form the [...]
Nectar profits collapse as supermarket price war takes its toll on loyalty cards October 18, 2015 Profits have tumbled at Britain’s biggest loyalty card provider, Nectar. Aimia Coalition Loyalty UK, Nectar’s parent company, said that pre-tax profits fell to £14.1m for 2014, from £74.4m the year before, due to a rise in people cashing in their points, while collecting fewer. The company warned that if people continued to redeem points then [...]
Hamleys poised to be sold to a relative of House of Fraser’s Chinese billionaire owner October 18, 2015 A Chinese investor is said to be closing in on a deal to buy the UK’s most famous toy store Hamleys in the coming weeks. Ludendo, the French family-owned toy group, is in advanced talks to sell the chain to a Hong Kong company run by a relative of Yuan Yafei, the billionaire owner House [...]
Volkswagen may face a record-breaking £30bn lawsuit from shareholders over emissions scandal October 18, 2015 GERMAN car-maker Volkswagen could be set for more trouble, after it has emerged that one of the world’s biggest law-firms is planning to make a record-breaking multi-billion pound legal attack on the company. Law firm Quinn Emanuel, which has won almost €50bn (£32bn) for clients and represented major companies including Google and Fifa, has been [...]
Online retailer Amazon files lawsuit in battle against fake review sellers October 18, 2015 Online retail giant Amazon is suing over 1,000 unidentified people it is accusing of selling fake reviews. The company said the 1,114 "John Doe" defendants used a website Fiverr.com – where a variety of people offer jobs called "gigs" starting at a price of $5 (hence the name) – to sell reviews. It claims each of the John Doe defendants has [...]
Uber’s UK sales are soaring after winning a legal battle in the High Court against black cab drivers October 18, 2015 It seems court battles aren’t standing in the way of Uber’s growth. After Uber’s landmark victory over black cab drivers on Friday, there’s more good news for the ride-hailing app: UK sales are up tenfold in the past year. British turnover soared to £11.3m last year, according to data from Companies House. The app’s accelerating [...]
Alibaba lobbying to stay off counterfeit blacklist October 18, 2015 A growing pile of fakes is giving Alibaba a headache. The US wants to blacklist Alibaba as a “notorious” market for counterfeit goods – but the Chinese e-commerce giant is fighting back. Alibaba and its bazaar site Taobao were both added to the US Trade Representative’s blacklist back in 2008. After successfully cleaning up fraudsters [...]
