Christmas crunch
Debenhams discount
High street retailer Debenhams this week shocked suppliers with a scrooge-like demand for a 2.5 per cent discount plus a one-off 2.5 per cent payment "to support our commitment to ongoing investment". Coming just a week before Christmas and during a crucial shopping season, the move suggested that retailers are privately concerned that the recent weak footfall figures recorded across the UK’s main high streets could translate into weaker than expected Christmas sales figures and they are trying to shore up margin wherever possible.
Robot wars
Google buys
US technology giant has added to its hardware capabilities with the acquisition of Boston Dynamics, a robotics specialist which has created a number of highly functioning robots and is working in conjunction with the US military. The deal marks the eighth robotics acquisition in the past year as former Android head Andy Rubin builds up Google’s presence in this field. Although Boston does not sell its robots commercially the prototypes it has made, which resemble large animals, have produced impressive performance in trials.
Inflation cools
Target close
The rate of inflation in the UK slipped back to 2.1 per cent in November, within touching distance of the Bank of England’s target rate of 2 per cent, and the lowest it has been since November 2009. The reading was helped by the fact that recent energy price rises have not yet kicked in and food prices have remained steady over the past month. Some economic analysts are now expecting inflation to dip below the 2 per cent level at some point early in 2014 before picking up again during the year but what the current benign situation does provides is some breathing space for the Bank of England in terms of raising interest rates.
Insurance scam
Motor mania
The Competition Commission has promised to look deeper into pricing in the motor insurance industry and the relationships between the insurers and providers of market comparison sites and introducers in a bid to bring down the cost of premiums to consumers. The Commission identified many elements of industry practice where it felt costs could be reduced and transparency improved and will look further at costs incurred by drivers for replacement cars and for repairs, and the quality of insurance-funded repairs was also called into question. The Commission will now have until September before making its final recommendations.
Plastic pound
2016 target
The Bank of England has signalled its intention to end 320 years of paper bank notes by switching over the polymer, or plastic, bank notes starting in 2016 with the introduction of a new £5 note featuring Winston Churchill, this will be followed in 2017 by the introduction of £10 notes featuring Jane Austen. The decision came after a public consultation in which 87 per cent of respondents were in favour of the new style bank notes, which are already used in countries such as Australia. The extra cost of production is expected to be offset by improved longevity of the new-style notes.
Bitcoin blow
China ban
The reputation of the virtual currency bitcoin was dealt a blow this week when China banned the country’s bitcoin exchanges from accepting new renminbi deposits on behalf of those seeking to buy bitcoins. The authorities acted in an attempt to cool the market for bitcoins, and this worked - sending the price down 25 per cent in a day - and also to prevent people circumventing tight capital controls. The move effectively puts a cap on the number of bitcoins available in China and should serve to deflate what looked like a potential bubble in the making.
