Business

Image copyright Newscast Sales in the UK arm of baby goods retailer Mothercare plunged almost 9% last year as its losses widened to £87.3m. The firm said its sales had fallen following reduced consumer confidence after last year’s restructuring. That led to it closing almost a third of its stores. It is now left with […]

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The latest closures will include mostly Evans stores as well as six Miss Selfridge shops Sir Philip Green’s retail empire Arcadia will close twice as many stores as it announced earlier this week. Arcadia, with brands including Topshop, Burton and Dorothy Perkins, initially announced 23 stores would close as

Image copyright Getty Images The chief executive of Thames Water has stepped down after failing to turn around the performance of one of the UK’s largest utility companies. Steve Robertson will be replaced with immediate effect. A source close to the company said the firm wanted someone with “a mind for operations”. Thames Water, which

Image caption Dagfinn Hiehe says he no longer sits in traffic jams “I drive in the bus lane because I have an electric car. It saves me 30 minutes on every journey to work.” Dagfinn Hiehe was smiling ear-to-ear as he told me his favourite thing about having an electric car. “You don’t need to

Image copyright Getty Images Earlier this week, Jamie Oliver’s restaurant group went into administration, with 1,000 jobs being lost. The group, which includes the Jamie’s Italian chain, Barbecoa and Fifteen, has been reduced from 25 restaurants to three. It appears to be part of a broader trend, according to statistics from data firm CGA. Chains

Image copyright Anna Kluehspies Image caption Samantha Hields invested her money for five years Charity worker Samantha Hields had saved up a pension of £16,000 and, after being made redundant, was given an offer she could not refuse. A salesman called her out of the blue and told her she could boost her savings by

Image copyright HSE Image caption Garry Louis was killed when a blockage inside the hose cleared under pressure and it violently whipped round A company has been fined £15,000 after a worker died when he was struck by a hose which is used to pump concrete. Garry Louis, 58, was working on an upgrade to

Image copyright Getty Images UK rail operator Stagecoach is to take the government to court over its disqualification from running the West Coast Partnership franchise from 2020. Stagecoach and its partners were barred from running three franchises by the Department for Transport (DfT) last month. The DfT disallowed the bids because they did not meet

Image copyright Getty Images Sir Philip Green should use his own money to support the pension fund of his troubled Arcadia retail empire, MP Frank Field has urged. The chairman of the Work and Pensions Committee intervened following Sir Philip’s plans to restructure Burton, Dorothy Perkins and Topshop and cut contributions to the pension scheme.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Scottish shops are outperforming the rest of the UK Retail sales stalled in April, but warmer weather boosted sales of clothing, which offset falls in other areas of spending. The Office for National Statistics said sales in April were flat on March, and higher than the 0.3% fall expected.