News

British American Tobacco are smoking profits along with Next who have had a terrific start to 2014  Despite the stagnant market place over the summer months there has been numerous goings on over the past two weeks with many interim results publications. In previous share news Sports Direct owner Mr Ashley controversially opted out of the companies share bonus scheme, which caused a decrease of two per cent over the past two weeks since their interim result statement, although recent...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor New Research shows 71% of London-based SMEs do not believe in luck in business, but almost one in three think it has a strong influence on success London business owners have poured cold water on the notion that you need to be lucky in order to be successful, according to new research conducted on behalf of online accounting and payroll software Sage One. The study of more than 1,000 small business owners across the UK...

  By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Ministers will give the go-ahead for an expansion of fracking across Britain; allowing drilling in national parks and other protected areas in "exceptional circumstances,” however ministers retain power to veto plans. Fracking involves blasting water, chemicals and sand at high pressure into shale rock formations to release the gas and oil held inside. Environmentalists argue that the process can cause contamination of the water supply and earth tremors. The government will invite firms to...

By Charlotte Hope – Celebrity Writer Louis Tomlinson fails to buy Doncaster Rovers A while ago, Louis Tomlinson (of One Direction fame) announced his plans to buy Doncaster Rovers. Whilst this could be construed as a bizarre move from one fifth of the world’s most successful boy band, it wasn’t as random as it sounds. Tomlinson is a life long Rovers fan and is in fact on their team sheet on a non contractual basis. Part of the deal seems...

  By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor A senior academic has shown his approval of the CMA’s decision to investigate High Street banks over a lack of competition. The big four High Street banks, which provide 77 per cent of current accounts and 85 per cent of business lending, may ultimately be forced to divest businesses and allow new competitors. Dr Steve McCabe, economist, lecturer and active researcher from Birmingham City University’s Business School, said: “Learning that the Competition and Markets...

  By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Print and mailing specialists, CFH Docmail, recently announced energy savings of 20% at its main facilities in Radstock, Somerset, and is now busy rolling-out the most energy efficient postal service in the UK. Through Velopost – a local bicycle mail collection and delivery service – CFH Docmail has achieved the UK’s first carbon-neutral postal service, operating in three cities currently, with further expansion planned. The journey to energy-saving has been a long one, but...

Sports Direct move down under, Firstgroup have come to the end of the line whilst Halfords wheel off into a French frenzy For the last month I have been away on vacation in America though the FTSE has seemingly been pretty flat. However, if readers of my column invested in TSB prior to them going live on the FTSE you could have made over 10 per cent within a week, but they were offering a maximum stake of approximately £3,600....

  By Guy Dorrell @GuyDorrellEsq Many of us dream of stripping away the complications of modern life, its hectic pace, its technologies, the dependency upon a steady income, and returning to how our distant ancestors must have lived. Of course there are complications and contradictions; few of us want to step back from the availability and efficiency of the NHS or the police, law and judicial system. Fewer still have the resources to step back, while retaining what is good...

By Charlotte Hope – Celebrity Writer Eva Mendes Pregnant with Ryan Gosling’s Baby Last Wednesday evening, for approximately half an hour, you might have noticed an unusual noise all around you. Every room you went into, this noise seemed to follow. Am I right? That’s because, people, US Weekly announced, completely unexpectedly, that Eva Mendes is carrying Ryan Gosling’s child. It hurts my poor little fingers to even type it. Not only is she pregnant, but she’s allegedly seven months...