The owner of British Gas has warned investors it has faced a difficult start to the year, weeks after sacking hundreds of its engineers through a controversial fire and rehire scheme to help turn the business around. Centrica told its shareholders its financial outlook
Pandora has become the first big jeweller to turn its back on mined diamonds, with the switch to lab-grown stones billed as making its jewellery more affordable. On Tuesday the mass-market brand, best known for its charm bracelets, launched Pandora Brilliance, which it
The pandemic turned 2020 into the year that fashion forgot as successive lockdowns made getting out of your pyjamas an achievement. But sales of high heels, handbags and lipstick are now roaring back as pub gardens, friends’ patios and the prospect of
The UK’s biggest building society is increasing the sums it is willing to lend first-time buyers in a move it said would enable homeownership for many people who have been frozen out of the market. Nationwide will allow new buyers to take
The property group British Land is looking to acquire more out-of-town retail parks, as it expects consumers will still want to shop at open-air locations that are accessible by car even after pandemic lockdown measures are eased. The company, which owns shopping malls including
Britain’s construction sector has had its sharpest pick-up in activity since 2014 amid signs that the domestic economy is recovering more quickly than Brexit- and pandemic-affected trade flows, new figures have shown. The latest snapshot of the construction sector, which accounts for
It’s time to switch to a renewable energy tariff. This is the well-meaning advice given to eco-conscious households across the country that are eager to play their part in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. About 40% of the UK’s CO2 emissions are created in
High street shops are preparing for a continued period of working from home with the production of “work from home” suits. Marks & Spencer,which has seen a 42% increase in searches for formal clothes since February, has produced a smart-casual suit made
Camera retailer Jessops is to appoint administrators for the second time in little more than a year, in a move that puts 120 jobs at risk. The business, controlled by Dragons’ Den panellist Peter Jones, said it had filed a notice to appoint administrators
To the dates 4 August 1914 and 3 September 1939 can now be added a third: 23 March 23 2020, the day the government declared war on Covid-19 and announced a lockdown to combat the virus. It’s strange how history repeats itself. The same
Britain’s biggest car manufacturers lobbied the government to delay a ban on petrol and diesel cars by warning that sales would plunge and jobs would be at risk from accelerating the transition to electric vehicles, the Guardian can reveal. The government announced in
Aldi will launch its first flat-bottomed Easter egg next month. Its bottom is square instead of round so that less plastic can be used in its packaging. The discount retailer’s non-round egg is called the Geometric Egg. Made of blonde chocolate, it has
Barclays has paid its chief executive, Jes Staley, £4m and handed larger bonuses to its bankers despite a 30% drop in annual profits during the Covid crisis. Pre-tax profits fell to £3.1bn for 2020 from £4.4bn a year earlier, with earnings hit
The mobile operator O2 has been fined £10.5m for overcharging 140,000 customers several million pounds as a result of billing errors that persisted for almost a decade. The telecoms regulator, Ofcom, said the fine – which was reduced from £15m because of O2’s cooperation with
COVID-19 has changed consumer buying habits, with many adopting a digital approach to their shopping. On the one hand, sales of prestige beauty products in brick and mortar stores declined 44% in 2020 when stores were forced to close intermittently due to government restrictions,
Ocado has reported booming sales at its online grocery service as shoppers switched to supermarket home delivery services during the Covid-19 pandemic. Retail sales at Ocado, which now delivers Marks & Spencer groceries, jumped 35% to £2.2bn in 2020, but the overall group, which includes
White goods will be guaranteed to last longer for Britons under new Government plans that make appliance parts available for at least seven years. The news comes after there were huge concerns over the environmental impact of throwing away broken appliances. The
A pain-free departure of a visionary founder is a difficult trick to pull off for any business. The stakes are even higher for a company the size of Amazon, as Jeff Bezos steps back from his day-to-day management role. The decision by Bezos, 57,
Cadbury has launched various different new items in recent weeks including new Easter eggs and a new chocolate bar. The most recent addition to the brand is the Dairy Milk Brownie Bites. Easter eggs have already started hitting the shelves with still
Sir Philip Green’s family is likely to receive £50m from the sale of Topshop while more than 1,000 suppliers to the high street fashion chain are set to get less than 1% of the money owed to them. A report by administrators
UK retail sales fell at their fastest pace on record last year as shops were ordered to close to slow the spread of Covid-19. Sales were down 1.9 per cent on 2019’s level with increased online purchases unable to make up for lost
The Chinese billionaire Jack Ma has made his first public appearance since Beijing began a crackdown on his business empire. Ma, a celebrity businessman and one of the richest people in China, had not spoken publicly since regulators blocked the flotation of Ant
Hundreds of thousands of small businesses that were forced to close during the Covid-19 pandemic are expected to receive payouts on insurance claims worth more than £1bn after what was described as a “historic victory” at the supreme court. The Financial Conduct
The boss of Unilever, one of the UK’s biggest companies, has said his office workers will never return to their desks five days a week, in the latest indication that coronavirus will transform modern working life. Alan Jope, the chief executive of the
Savers who have lost track of pension and investment funds will have their money used for charitable causes that could aid Covid recovery efforts under government plans to expand its dormant asset scheme beyond bank accounts. The Reclaim Fund was established in
Shares in London have closed at their highest level since late February as investors ignored record Covid-19 deaths and warnings from a veteran City guru that an epic bubble of Wall Street crash proportions was bound to burst. Stock markets around the
The Co-op is to launch a range of own-brand plastic-free teabags nearly three years after it first pledged an eco-friendly version of the nation’s favourite brew. Mass-produced teabags became an unlikely target in the fight against the global plastic binge, after it emerged that the industry-wide
The UK’s largest listed financial firms have handed their board members a near-80% pay rise since 2009, prompting shareholder advisers and high pay campaigners to call for greater transparency on director fees. Data gathered by the Guardian shows median pay for the
The plus-size clothing brand Evans has been bought out of administration in a £23m deal but will close all five standalone stores with the loss of 25 jobs. The brand is the first part of Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia Group to be
The UK competition regulator has launched an investigation into the failure of airlines to offer cash refunds to travellers who have been unable to take their flights because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said its move followed reports that
Topshop’s administrators are seeking bids of up to £200m for Sir Philip Green’s fashion chain as they try to seal a deal before Christmas. Initial bids are expected to be filed by the end of next week as part of a flurry
Heathrow could lose 2,000 retail jobs because of the government’s decision not to offer tax-free shopping for tourists, according to the airport’s chief executive. John Holland-Kaye said the move, which will make the UK the only country in Europe to have a
Gyms, crazy golf, student flats, hotels or even a whisky-based tourist attraction: the future of many department store sites is unlikely to involve shopping. More than 200 of them are now empty or closing next year, and property experts say the shift
UK house prices have risen at the fastest rate in almost six years, with properties in national parks attracting a higher premium, according to Britain’s biggest building society. The average price of a home rose 0.9% to £229,721 in November from October,
Gas and electricity bills could rise by £21 a year for households from the beginning of April, under new proposals by Ofgem. The regulator has suggested increasing the maximum amount Brits can be charged on their bills to cover debts following the coronavirus crisis.
London– The Jordanian factories operated by Sidney Apparels are hotbeds of coronavirus infections due to discriminatory policies and a lack of safety measures, warns ImpACT International for Human Rights Policies. Sidney Apparel, which produces garments for export to the United States, reports that
The UK music industry is set to halve in size this year as issues including an effective shutdown of concerts, gigs and festivals strip £3bn from its contribution to the economy. UK Music, the umbrella organisation representing the commercial music industry from
More than 60 leading retailers in the UK have said shops that are not allowed to trade before Christmas may never reopen. The group, comprised of business leaders from companies including Harvey Nichols, Burberry and Marks & Spencer, has called for all
Rolls-Royce says it can create 6,000 UK jobs within five years if the government backs its plans to build small nuclear reactors around the country. The engineering company is part of a consortium that is pushing for the government to commit billions of
Thousands of independent retailers have urged the government to crack down on major chains such as The Range, Carpetright and Ryman for continuing to trade during lockdown despite largely selling “non-essential” goods. Andrew Goodacre, the chief executive of Bira, a trade association representing 3,000 independent retailers, said his members
Pub giant Greene King is cutting 800 jobs after deciding that tighter lockdown restrictions mean som..
The UK’s record of companies is to be reformed to introduce proper checks on whether directors are r..
John Lewis has confirmed that staff will not receive a bonus for the first time since 1953 after it ..
Nearly two in three adults are now travelling to work, as some employers ask their staff to return t..
The chancellor has said looking for new ways to protect jobs is his “number one priority” after the ..
Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia retail empire has apologised after claims it would pay some head office s..
Food firms have written to the government asking for support as a stand-off with landlords looms ove..
The UK economy grew by 6.6% in July, according to official figures, but remains far below pre-pandem..
Santander UK customers were unable to access their online accounts for several hours from Friday mor..
Billionaire businessman Mike Ashley has bought the gym and fitness business from his rival and long-..
