THE HUB RETAIL RECRUITMENT’S WEEKLY NEWS SNIPPETS

In the wake of last week’s Conservative party conference, this week is hotting up as something of a Brexit pressure pot – and that pressure is coming down on Teresa May, particularly from MPs wanting to have close scrutiny of GB’s exit arrangements. A couple of our news items this week relate to Brexit, but in addition our stories are: We’re still spending; Ted Baker’s excelling; Dad wins tribunal for full pay parental leave; and the FTSE v Sterling.

We’re still spending: Spending was up 2.4% compared to September last year – so says Visa. We’ve long reported that we’re shifting our spending from ‘things’ to experiences. And this isn’t letting up. So we spent our money on the theatre, meals, and holidays. There’s still concerns about whether spending will hold up post-Brexit – but apparently so far we’re feeling confident because of low unemployment, low interest rates, and low inflation. Let’s hope that continues as we move towards Christmas.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/oct/10/uk-household-spending-rose-in-september-figures-show

Ted Baker’s excelling: With pre tax profit up by 20% and revenue up by 8.5%, it’s no wonder Ted’s shares rose by 5%. As we know, the High Street is having a tough time, but these figures suggest TB is bucking the trend. Although as you’ll see from this article, its CEO and founder Ray Kelvin is in no way complacent, as he remains very aware of the continued turbulence of the markets.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/oct/11/ted-baker-shares-shine-on-smart-profits

Dad wins tribunal for full pay parental leave: Here’s a story that shows sex discrimination works both ways. Network Rail had a shared parental leave policy which gave a woman full pay whilst  a man would get statutory pay. Doesn’t seem fair? Well an Employment Tribunal didn’t think so, and Network Rail have had to pay compensation of £30,000! But NR has moved quickly to  equalise payments – downwards! So women now only get statutory pay too.

http://www.cipd.co.uk/pm/peoplemanagement/b/weblog/archive/2016/10/03/tribunal-victory-for-father-denied-full-pay-during-shared-parental-leave.aspx?utm_medium=email&utm_source=cipd&utm_campaign=cipdupdate&utm_term=68296&utm_content=121016-7396-19238-20161012075316-Tribunal%20victory%20for%20father%20denied%20full%20pay%20during%20shared%20parental%20leave

FTSE vs Sterling: Yesterday, the FTSE reached record highs. Today it’s deflated a little. On sterling, the pound is hovering around $1.22. So on the one hand confidence is high because of the low £ which means our goods are cheaper abroad, and on the other hand the pound is low because confidence isn’t high about how much we’ll be able to compete in the EU market once we leave. Now the Bank of England is saying that banks will be moving to other European cities – and may even go to the US. It’s going to be a long time before our economy settles down, and perhaps such speculation isn’t helpful. But speculate or not, the markets are set to continue to be volatile – with those pros and cons continuing.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/10/12/pound-pops-above-122-and-ftse-100-falters-after-theresa-may-prom/

Well there we are for another week. We hope you enjoyed our pick of the bunch, and that we’ll see you back here again next Wednesday, 19th October. Until then, have a great week.