Category

Business

The latest published reporting in this category.

Finance

Primark lacks fizz as it approaches its go-it-alone moment

After a profits dip, the chain’s demerger from its sister food company still makes sense but is unlikely to reveal tons of value Primark brings forward home deliveries plan by two years as profits slide The business logic for demerging Primark from Associated British Foods’ greater Ovaltine-to-Twinings empire – an event due to happen by the end of next year – is impeccable. Read this year’s results statement and you wonder why the controlling Weston family took 20 years to get behind the idea. One paragraph can be about a yeast plant in India or the impact of high gas prices on sugar-refining

The Guardian
Read more
Finance

Protect Poundland from predatory capitalism, MPs tell government

Budget retailer and 12,000 jobs at risk after US owner fails to accept buyout offers MPs have called on the government to protect Poundland and other high street stores from “predatory capitalism” and asset-stripping. The fate of the retail chain and its 12,000 staff remains uncertain after it filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators at the high court last Thursday. Continue reading...

The Guardian
Read more
Finance

Datacentres are deeply unpopular – so the geniuses at OpenAI are rebranding them | Arwa Mahdawi

These resource-guzzling centres drive up utility bills and are hated across the political spectrum. Cue a clunky, but potentially influential, new name for them Jesus may have turned water into wine, but Donald Trump has done one better: he turned Lake Ontario into Lake America and the Gulf of Mexico into the Gulf of America. And then, for his next trick, he insisted we all stop talking about artificial intelligence (AI) and call it superintelligence (SI) instead. Those, of course, are only a few of the name changes the president has ushered in. When he’s not golfing or commenting on senators’

The Guardian
Read more
Finance

Primark brings forward home deliveries plan by two years as profits slide

Retailer acquires robot-assisted warehouse and intends to have UK service up and running before end of 2027 Primark is to begin making home deliveries by the end of next year as it aims to win new shoppers after a slide in profits. George Weston, the boss of the cut-price fashion chain’s owner Associated British Foods (ABF), said it had brought forward the launch of Primark’s home delivery plans by about two years. Continue reading...

The Guardian
Read more
Finance

Snap and crackle but no pop: Rice Krispies reformulated due to lack of rice

Kellogg’s substitutes ingredient with rice flour, as climate crisis affects availability of some grains They will snap and they will crackle, but they may no longer pop, as Kellogg’s has removed rice from its Rice Krispies and Coco Pops cereals due to “changing weather conditions”. Rice Krispies has been reformulated to use rice flour instead of rice, while Coco Pops now contain a blend of rice flour and corn flour instead of rice in order to maintain consistent quality. Kelloggs’ said the shift reflected how the climate crisis had affected the quality and availability of some rice and grains

The Guardian
Read more
Finance

Brent crude slides 3% after Trump says US will stop military funding to Israel ‘by end of this year’ – as it happened

US president tells Fox News he made deal with Netanyahu ‘months ago’ Dearden responded to Snell’s question: It is deeply concerning to see the uncertainty about Poundland’s future. That’s why I, the Secretary of State and the Prime Minister, have been keeping a close eye on what is an extremely worrying situation for the staff, their families and communities up and down the country. We’ve been demanding to know what is happening, particularly for Gordon Brothers to explain why they haven’t accepted any offer to keep the company going. We continue to establish the facts. Continue reading...

The Guardian
Read more
Finance

Guaranteed pension income ‘resurrected’ for 17m private sector workers

Ministers propose new guided retirement scheme to help give savers protection for life Millions of private sector workers will be offered a guaranteed pension income for life under new rules designed to help them get the most out of their retirement savings. Over the past 30 years, the majority of final salary pension schemes offering a set payout for life have closed. Workers have instead saved into a scheme and arrived at retirement with a pot of money they have to decide what to do with. Continue reading...

The Guardian
Read more