THE DAILY BRIEFING
NEW BOSS Cross-Channel rail operator Eurostar has appointed the boss of delivery firm Yodel as its chief executive.
Mike Cooper will join on March 12 replacing Nicolas Petrovic, who is to become chief executive of engineering and t echnology company Siemens in France.
Cooper has also led Arriva’s European transport business and held senior positions at airline EasyJet.
BARGAIN HUNT More Christmas shoppers hunted for bargains over the festive period as sales at the
Oxfam online shop soared by 33pc. Vintage and designer clothes topped the charity shop’s online search terms, with brands Burberry, Barbour, Gucci, Whistles and Boden particularly popular.
STORE WARS Discounters Aldi and Lidl submitted a combined 128 planning applications across the UK last year as they look to snatch more market share from the Big Four supermarkets. Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Asda submitted a total of just 20 planning applications in comparison, according to figures from construction information service, Barbour ABI.
PITCH BATTLE Wall Street behemoths Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are among global banks battling to oversee the £1.5 trillion float of state oil firm Saudi Aramco.
Leading staff from both lenders have been invited to pitch for the work at Aramco’s Gulf headquarters later this month, along with German rival Deutsche Bank.
A location for the stock market listing has not yet been decided but London and New York are thought to be leading the pack. PROFITS SOAR Partners at Grant Thornton pocketed £407,000 each last year – up 7pc on 2016. The firm’s profits were up 10.3pc to £75m as it seeks to challenge the so-called big four players, Ernst & Young, PwC, Deloitte and KPMG.
CHINESE BOOST Businesses that bank with Santander UK are being given the chance to sell into the Chinese market.
The lender has teamed up with China’s biggest retailer, JD.com, to let customers sell through its delivery network. JD.com has more than 266m customers.
RETAIL SPREE Insurer Legal & General is continuing a real estate buying spree with the £36.8m purchase of the 102,060 sq ft Riverside Retail Park in Stafford from LXB Retail Properties.