All news by author: Simon Read

HIGH street sports chain JD Sports is banking on growth despite profits falling 8 per cent last year to £912million.The firm blamed a “challenging

BOOMING second-hand motor sales helped boost the profits of online car marketplace Auto Trader by a fifth.Used vehicles are selling quicker than befor

THE Covid boom appears to be over for Pets At Home as its annual profits slumped 14 per cent to £106million.The retail chain enjoyed a good pandemic

BOOM times are back at Harry Potter book publisher Bloomsbury — thanks to fantasy fiction writer Sarah J Maas.The company said profits and rev

THE spiralling cost of spirits is helping to keep inflation above the Bank of England's target of two per cent.The Consumer Prices Index stayed unchan

A RECORD 900,000 companies were started in the UK 2023, according to a new report.The number of new businesses was 12 per cent higher than in 2022, ac

TESCO has flogged its banking business to Barclays for £600million — after running it for 27 years.Barclays said there would be no changes, for now

HOUSEBUILDER Barratt Developments is snapping up its smaller rival Redrow in a £2.5billion deal.But the tie-up won’t be good news for all of the tw

THE Bank of England yesterday forecast inflation will fall to its target of two per cent 18 months earlier than expected.The encouraging news led to p

A NEW blockbuster vaccine has boosted sales and profits at drugs giant GSK.Last May, Arexvy became the world’s first approved vaccine for older suff

HARD-HIT motorists saw their car insurance premiums soar by a third at the end of last year, it was revealed yesterday.The Association of British Insu

MORE than 25,000 UK companies went bust last year — the highest figure in three decades.Bankruptcies were up 14 per cent on 2022, as businesses stru

SHOP price inflation has fallen to its lowest level in 18 months, as retailers offer large discounts to attract customers.January’s prices were stil

THE Government has been urged to cut business rates to help Britain’s retail industry “survive and prosper”.Andy Higginson, chairman of the Brit

PLANNING for getting ill may sound silly, but it makes a lot of sense. It’s something that most of us fear but we will be extremely lucky to avoid n

SAINSBURY’S is pulling out of banking services to concentrate on groceries.The supermarket giant says it is looking for other businesses to take on

ONLINE grocer Ocado is back in profit for the year — after sales in its retail arm finally delivered.They climbed by 11 per cent to £609million in

HARD-UP Brits using valuables to raise cash have helped profits at pawnbroker Ramsdens to climb by over 20 per cent.The 165-store group said higher li

ARTIFICIAL intelligence could hit three in five workers — possibly replacing their jobs.The warning comes in a new International Monetary Fund repor

BRITISH sandwich-seller Pret A Manger has linked up with US franchise firm Dallas Holdings in an ambitious strategy to treble the number of its branch

MINISTERS must urgently bring in a regulator to stop drivers being “fleeced” at the pumps, campaigners say — as retailers continue to fail to pa

BRITAIN is heading for a tradespeople crisis with a shortfall of 250,000 predicted by 2030 over the push for net zero.The lack of trained plumbers and

RHODES wildfires this summer will cost travel agent TUI around £21million — but haven’t deterred holidaymakers.It was forced to stump up for canc

HOUSEHOLD energy suppliers could rack up £1.74billion in profits in the next 12 months from consumer bills.Profits have surged in the last six years

SHARES in advertising giant WPP slumped 7 per cent in early trading yesterday after it issued a profit warning.The agency, which recovered slightly to