Christmas

Maya Gemstones sees 23% rise in engagement ring sales

Jewellers have reported a significant increase in the sales of engagement rings during the lockdown period, according to Maya Gemstones.…

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Master craftsman Simon Caldicott dies aged 62

Theo Fennell has announced the passing of Simon Caldicott, the award-winning master craftsman, mounter, model maker and small worker who…

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UK online sales surge by more than 100% in May

UK online sales surged by 103% in the four weeks ended 16 May, according to new data from Nielsen. The…

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Ocado ditches Waitrose; Bill gates orders £500m beast-yacht; Boris to lower immigration wage threshold

A busy start to the week in the business pages. As the coronavirus story unfolds I am reluctant to spend…

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Tesla, Macy’s and organic food: serious change is afoot

Sometimes change is sudden and surprising, but sometimes it bubbles away under the surface for decades before making a serious…

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The whole Amazon thing is getting scary now

The ‘growth of online retail’ is now so proverbial that the phrase itself is nearly redundant. Is anyone surprised to…

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Signet Jewellers performance ‘falls short’ over Christmas

Signet Jewellers, the parent company of H. Samuel and Ernest Jones, has reported a dip in like-for-like sales over the…

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Boohoo more valuable than M&S – a sea-change encapsulated

From a purely journalistic standpoint it is now a de facto cliché to refer to Marks and Spencer as the…

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‘Worst year on record’ for retail, says BRC

Total retail sales decreased by 0.1% in 2019, compared with the 1.2% increase recorded in 2018, making it the “worst…

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Spooked markets seem soothed by Iran-US climb-down

When Iran decided to hit back on US military facilities after president Trump ordered the assassination of Iranian general Qasem…

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