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Fortnum & Mason to ‘limit price rises’ as it battles surging costs

January 13, 2025

Iconic London store Fortnum & Mason has vowed to limit increasing prices in the wake of tax rises by the Labour government. The retailer, which can trace its roots back to 1707, has said the outlook for its operating costs in 2025 “remains challenging”. The company pointed to inflation, labour costs, tax increases, raw materials, [...]

CMA launches probe into Google search dominance under new regime

January 13, 2025

Google has been placed under investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to assess whether its search and advertising services deliver fair results within the UK. In a statement today, the watchdog announced the launch of its first “strategic market status designation investigation” under a new Strategic Market Status (SMS) regime, which was rolled [...]

Games Workshop: Warhammer maker’s stock dips amid cost pressures

January 13, 2025

FTSE 100 giant Games Workshop’s stock price dipped three per cent today after warning that rising costs could have a growing impact on its business. In the Warhammer maker’s half-yearly report, it revealed that profit before tax at the firm jumped by a third, from £95.2m in the first half of last year to £126.8m. [...]

Yougov boss facing call to resign from activist investor Gatemore

January 13, 2025

Yougov is facing calls to sack its boss and kick off an “urgent strategic review” from an activist investor today after a dramatic fall in its share price over the past year. Gatemore Capital Management, an activist investment firm which owns around 1.3 per cent of Yougov, wrote to the company’s board demanding that boss [...]

‘A speculative figure’: Cost of Sizewell C nuclear plant nearly doubled since 2020

January 13, 2025

The cost of building Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk could reach nearly £40bn, according to reports. Developer EDF and the UK government anticipated the project’s final price tag would be around £20bn in 2020, as it struggled to bring down construction costs and reduce delays. But the Financial Times on Tuesday reported the [...]

Innocent Drinks slashes loss after overcoming ‘challenging year’

January 13, 2025

Innocent Drinks has slashed its pre-tax loss after it recovered from a “challenging year”, it has been revealed. The London-based brand, which is owned by Coca-Cola, has reported a pre-tax loss of £39m for 2023, according to late accounts filed with Companies House. The results, which were filed long after the deadline of 30 September, [...]

Naked Wines CEO: How to choose the right bottle of wine

January 13, 2025

Meet the chief executive "fighting" to turn around Naked Wines, which enjoyed huge success during the pandemic but has been struggling since.

Chemring: British defence giant wins major US contract for missile radars

January 13, 2025

Chemring shares rose this morning after it unveiled a fresh deal with a US-based company for the supply of miniature radars. The four-year contract is valued at £26m, with production commencing at the FTSE 250 firm’s Hampshire headquarters in October. Shares rose around three per cent by mid-morning. Chemring will supply Miniature Radar Altimeters (MRA) [...]

Home REIT: Beleaguered property fund value falls 60 per cent

January 13, 2025

Scandal-hit housing investor Home REIT has published its long-delayed 2023 annual results, revealing its property portfolio has been valued at just 40.7 per cent of its original purchase cost. The results for the year to 31 August 2023 revealed that the value of Home REIT’s assets had decreased by more than a third in a [...]

Nvidia data centre opens in London Docklands as Starmer launches AI action plan

January 13, 2025

London Docklands and Crawley will host some of Europe’s largest Nvidia AI platforms in two newly operational data centres, after Britain launched its’ AI Opportunities Action Plan this week New York-based cloud provider CoreWeave announced the opening of these sites as Keir Starmer’s government looked to pour more money into data centre infrastructure. Its London [...]

Card Factory: Shares ‘should rise rapidly’ after successful Christmas

January 13, 2025

Shares in Card Factory rose more than five per cent after the retailer reported festive growth ahead of the wider market. Revenue rose 4.7 per cent in November and December, driven by a higher average spend on sweets and toys. Total sales for the 1 months ended 31 December, 2024, reached £506.6m, up 6.2 per [...]

‘We hope this is not goodbye’: Partridges to close iconic London store after 53 years

January 13, 2025

Independent family-run food store Partridges is to close its iconic London location after 53 years. The company is to shutter its fine food store in Duke of York Square, Chelsea, on 2 February. Partridges confirmed that its location in Gloucester Road, Kensington, will continue to trade as usual and that a new store will open [...]

Surging gold price helps pawnbroker Ramsdens to record profit

January 13, 2025

Ramsdens has delivered a record profit thanks to the surging gold price and demand for its pawnbroking services. The retailer, which offers financial services as well as pawnbroking, told markets this morning that revenue rose 14 per cent in the year to September 30, to £95.6m from £83.8m in 2023. Gross profit rose 13 per [...]

Lloyds Bank ties bonuses to office attendance

January 13, 2025

The Guardian reported that Lloyds is reviewing office attendance as part of its bonus targets for around 60,000 of its most senior employees.

BP reveals boss Auchincloss recovering after procedure as it signals weaker trading

January 13, 2025

Oil giant BP has delayed an investor event due to be held in New York to allow boss Murray Auchincloss to recover after a medical procedure as it signalled weaker end-of-year trading. Its scheduled capital markets event that was due on February 11 in New York will now be delayed until February 26 and will [...]