Beleaguered Northern Rock led the London market higher today amid fresh hopes of a bid for the company. Northern gained more than 8% today as investors acted on the company’s hints of a possible offer, sending the shares 12.9p higher at 176p. The wider FTSE 100 Index was 62.6 points ahead at 6459.6 by mid-morning after a better performance from heavily-weighted financials following broker upgrades.
Utterly Butterly maker Dairy Crest has warned that a product recall of its Clover brand and rising costs are set to hit its UK spreads business. The company was forced to recall up to two million tubs of Clover in May after mould contamination at its factory in Shropshire. Dairy Crest said the recall had ``significantly impacted“ first half volumes, and led to additional outlay on improvements at the factory. JD Sports parent John David Group today shrugged off the slump in summer sales that has hit its closest rivals as it reported a more than doubling of half-year pre-tax profits. The sportswear and fashion retailer posted underlying profits up by 158% to £8.1m in the six months to July 28 and said trading had been ``highly satisfactory“ since then. Sales in the year to date are up 11.8% on a like-for-like basis, with sportswear up 12.3% and fashion ahead by 3.3%. Waiters and waitresses will stage demonstrations outside restaurants today to highlight complaints that customers’ tips are being counted as part of their wages. The Unite union said thousands of waiting staff in London were having their wages subsidised by tips which often meant they suffered a pay cut when on holiday or off sick. The union claimed that most restaurant employers were taking a cut of tips to boost their profits. Unite is campaigning for a change in the law to stop restaurant employers counting tips as part of workers’ wages. The FTSE-100 index at 11:45am was up 56.6 at 6453.5. The pound at 12pm stood at $2.0123, compared to $2.0168 at the previous close. The euro stood at £0.7026 compared to £0.7006 at the previous close. For more on these and other stories, see nebusiness in tomorrow's Journal.
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Rising from trainee solicitor to managing partner in 11 years at commercial law firm Muckle LLP (formerly Robert Muckle) Stephen McNicol has achieved more than most could expect from an entire career.
Carole Beverley, of the Entrepreneurs' Forum, on entrepreneurial activity in the North-East and how to be a success in business...
