Interesting business practice
In a letter to suppliers, Debenhams said it was seeking a one-off fee from suppliers worth 2.5pc of its outstanding payments as of Tuesday. It will also apply a 2.5pc discount to orders it has agreed...
View ArticleThis is most amusing from Autonomy
OK, so you need a bit of background here. Autonomy was bought by HP and then HP wrote down the value of what it had bought by some massive percentage of that purchase price. 80% or so, around and about...
View ArticlePrices up, profits down
British Gas owner Centrica has revealed a £571m profit haul from its residential energy arm for 2013, months after hiking gas and electricity prices. It marks a 6% drop on the £606m the year before but...
View ArticleMutuals really are different, aren’t they?
The embattled Co-operative Group, still reeling from a banking scandal and preparing to lay off up to 5,000 employees, faces a new storm over plans to pay its chief executive more than £3.5m in his...
View ArticleWill Hutton on the Co Op pay
It must represent one of the greatest wealth grabs in history. British firms have been the object of a management coup to deliver extravagant executive pay. The argument is that this incentivises...
View ArticleMaybe there’s merit in high CEO pay then?
The shambolic state of the Co-operative Group was laid bare in a scathing verdict warning that the survival of Britain’s biggest mutual organisation was at stake. The Co-op has been undermined by...
View ArticleOn the subject of Oculus
The FT: - Kickstarter, where you can get a $2.4m early-stage investment in what would become a $2bn business in a year and a half, in return for 0.0 per cent equity.
View ArticleNow this is an excellent piece of PR
Very well done indeed to whoever is running this little campaign: A firm supplying bacon through the post has been forced to come up with special packaging for dog owners to stop their pets eating the...
View ArticleSo, anyone know how to develop mobile apps for picture sharing, filters, all...
I’ve an idea for a mobile phone app. Yes, obviously, picture sharing and all that. No, obviously not going to end up like Snapchat. But it might find an interesting little niche. Anyone actually know...
View ArticleNow that’s clever
Soon, a fresh manicure could have the potential to save your life. Mixing chemistry with cosmetics, four male undergraduates at North Carolina State University have created Undercover Colors, a nail...
View ArticleOn the subject of Tesco’s profits
Tesco said the shortfall in its profits is due to the “accelerated recognition of commercial income and delayed accrual of costs”. In other words, Tesco has been paying suppliers later and taking...
View ArticleNaughty boys over at Tesco, eh?
So there was a little bit more going on: and its policy for accounting for depreciation. He said that Tesco’s accounts suggest the company has extended the implied life of its non-property assets,...
View ArticleHere’s an idiot idea
I might have mentioned this before. But gas flaring. Obviously, a waste of good energy. But often done when gas co-produced with oil is in small volume. Or there’s gas fields out there that are viable...
View ArticleThat free market thang
There are no bad products, only bad prices. As long as you get the pricing right everything sells. Steve Smith, Poundland founder.
View ArticleTwits
Apple’s Angela Ahrendts paid nine times more than boss Tim Cook Former Burberry chief executive took home nearly $83m last year, Bloomberg claims That includes her long term stock awards. And Tim...
View ArticleWill Hutton is odd, isn’t he?
Meanwhile Ukip promotes a meaner, more right-wing English nationalism that is attractive to some of the left-behind older English working class in the midlands and north. English nationalism is bad you...
View ArticleStealing the waiters’ tips
The law may have changed here but I think that this is actually illegal: A spokesperson for Pizza Express said that its admin charge was to cover the cost of running a “tronc” – a standard pay...
View ArticleWrong way around here
Cargill capitalises on growing demand for fish with £959m acquisition of salmon feed maker The US-based food and agriculture giant has snapped up Norway’s Ewos, making it a leading player in the fish...
View ArticleInnovation is alive and well in Zimbabwe
Breakfast cereal has been banned from some boarding schools in Zimbabwe because pupils were using it to brew beer, it was reported this week. The country’s Chronicle newspaper said at least three...
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