James Thompson

Recent Articles by James Thompson

June 10, 2010

McDonald's Still Hungry for U.K. Growth

High energy levels are no guarantee of success as a chief executive, particularly at a fast food chain in the UK where its 2.5 million customers a day can vote with ...

June 9, 2010

Tesco CEO Leahy: Supermarket Star Retires

Back in early 2008, Sir Terry Leahy, the chief executive of Tesco (TSCDY), had a skiing accident that left him at home with six broken ribs and speaking, in the words ...

June 7, 2010

U.K. Girds for New U.S. Fast Food Invasion

They are huge in the US, but few British diners have heard of Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) or Ruby Tuesday (RT). But all this is about to change as the restaurant ...

May 23, 2010

GM's Vauxhall Workers Agree to Pay Freeze

Workers at Vauxhall's Ellesmere Port and Luton plants have agreed to a two-year pay freeze, as part of the German car maker's Europe-wide agreement to slash its labour...

May 9, 2010

Tesco Heats Up U.K. Shopping Cart War

Sainsbury (JSAIY) will put the final piece in the jigsaw of the three big listed grocers on Thursday, when it delivers its full-year results. The UK's third-largest ...

April 29, 2010

Best Buy Finally Opens First British Store

The world's largest electricals retailer, Best Buy (BBY), will open its first UK store in Essex to a fanfare tomorrow, but consumers will have to wait until the autumn...

April 21, 2010

Retailer Tesco Eyes Global Growth

Tesco (TSCDY), which operates in 14 countries including the UK, has faced recessionary conditions in most of its markets in the past year. In particular, it has had to...

April 13, 2010

British Retail Sales Rebound in March

The early Easter helped shopkeepers to enjoy their strongest monthly sales for nearly four years in March, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) reported yesterday. ...

April 5, 2010

Wilbur Ross Bets Big on Virgin Money

Virgin Money's goal of becoming a major force among Britain's high street banks has received a boost from Wilbur Ross, the Wall Street billionaire, who has promised to...

February 2, 2010

Kraft and Cadbury: It's a Wrap

Cadbury was finally acquired for £11.4bn by the US food giant Kraft yesterday, closing the door on nearly 200 years of independence for the Dairy Milk maker. Kraft ...