Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Marks and Spencer beat first-half profit expectations on strong food and clothing sales as its turnaround plan gathers pace, but it warned of uncertainty because of the Budget and “elevated” cost inflation.
The retailer, which has been seeking to revive its fortunes in recent years after decades of failed reinventions, reported a 17.2 per cent increase in profit before tax and adjusted items to £407mn in the six months to September 30, ahead of analysts’ expectations.
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Food sales were up 8.1 per cent year on year to £4.2bn, while clothing and home goods sales rose 4.7 per cent to £2bn, also ahead of forecasts, although sales in its international division fell 11.6 per cent. Group revenue increased 5.7 per cent to £6.5bn.
The company attributed the performance to winning more customers from rivals and forecast “further progress” in the second half of the year.
M&S shares have soared 74 per over the past year, recently climbing to an eight-year high. It has been closing less profitable or productive stores that sell clothing, home and food products in recent years and opened more of its popular food shops, while modernising its technology, ecommerce operations and supply chain.
The recent UK Budget’s long-term impact on M&S, suppliers and customers was “for now uncertain”, the company said on Wednesday.
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Rachel Reeves last week announced an increase in employers’ national insurance contributions by 1.2p to 15p and a reduction in the earnings threshold at which the tax kicked in, hitting the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors.
The FTSE 100 company, which laid out a five-year growth plan to investors in 2022, also said it would pay an interim dividend of 1p a share, a third of last year’s total dividend. The final dividend would be determined at year-end, it added.
The retailer said in May it was in its best financial position in almost 30 years, having strengthened its balance sheet.
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Richard Chamberlain, a retail analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said M&S “has been making good progress with its food business, helped by an improved value for money perception, while its clothing offer has benefited from a stronger digital offer, third-party brands and a better bought range, with improvements in style, quality and value perception”.
Dutch artist-designers Kiki van Eijk and Joost van Bleiswijk have an enviable working partnership. Based in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, the husband and wife co-direct the studio Kiki and Joost. But when it comes to their projects, they work separately, producing sculptural furniture that reflects their distinct skills and aesthetic tendencies.
Van Eijk, 46, has a rich imagination and an eye for detail. She develops tactile furniture, objects and textiles infused with emotion, narrative and a sense of whimsy. The work of van Bleiswijk, 48, is more architectural: his furniture and lighting combine ambitious volumes with clever construction details. The contrast underpins the success of their collaboration, inspiring and challenging one another. “The basis is that we keep each other free,” says van Bleiswijk. “There is no ego involved; we just want to help each other,” adds van Eijk.
The pair have just opened the doors of a new joint endeavour. At their canalside studio, a 1,000 sq m former industrial site in the east of the city, they have built themselves an exhibition gallery. It marks the realisation of a dream that started taking shape when van Eijk and van Bleiswijk bought the property in 2019. After eight studio moves in 18 years, they wanted a permanent space that would give them freedom to design, make and exhibit their creations.
Their first step was to install a workshop, filled with machines for cutting, shaping, drilling and welding, and drawers stocked with every kind of handheld tool imaginable. “If you have to go somewhere else every time you need to cut a piece of wood, you cannot be expressive,” says van Bleiswijk.
The gallery is the final piece of the puzzle. Featuring a modular Douglas fir structure, a plywood interior and full-height cupboards that double as extra show space, it allows the couple to present works immediately after they have made them. “It’s a direct transformation from workshop to exhibition,” adds van Eijk. “It means we can work fast and show things when the paint is still wet.”
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Not everything has to have an end goal; sometimes it’s good to just go for it and see what comes out
Exhibitions have always been central to the Kiki and Joost identity. The couple met as students at Design Academy Eindhoven (DAE). Van Eijk graduated in 2000, followed by van Bleiswijk in 2001. It was a time of crisis for Eindhoven; electronics group Philips — which once had around 100,000 staff here — had just closed its factory, leaving major unemployment in its wake.
In a bid to put the city back on the map, DAE decided to stop staging its end-of-year show in Amsterdam, as it had done for the past decade, and stay local instead. Van Eijk and van Bleiswijk saw this as an opportunity to make a name for themselves. In 2002, the pair rounded up some designer friends and put on a coinciding exhibition titled Greetings from Eindhoven, promoting the city as a hub of burgeoning talent and enterprise. “We wanted to make a statement,” says van Eijk.
The couple have exhibited in Eindhoven every year since then, including in the provocative Design Sucks group show in 2003 and the punk-themed London Calling in 2006. Other creatives did the same, providing the foundations for what is now Dutch Design Week, a festival that takes over the city for nine days every October. It enabled Eindhoven’s resurgence as an international design hub and cemented Kiki and Joost’s reputation within it, alongside fellow talents such as Piet Hein Eek, Maarten Baas and Nacho Carbonell.
If there is one thing that unites their work, it’s an ethos of “learning by doing”. They both believe in the power of serendipity, of experimenting with materials without a fixed idea of what the result will be. “Not everything has to have an end goal; sometimes it’s good to just go for it and see what comes out,” says van Eijk. This approach is evident in their latest works, which they unveiled in the new gallery during this year’s Dutch Design Week.
Van Eijk’s offerings included “Sprout”, a set of plant-inspired vases combining blown glass with a Japanese ceramic technique called raku, which she uses to create graphic patterns, and “Stripes and Bubbles”, a blanket inspired by the same glazing process. Van Bleiswijk showcased “One Sheet”, a series of shelving units made by cutting and folding single sheets of steel, and “Funky Punky”, a collection of furniture formed from neon-painted shards of leftover plywood.
The couple’s creative pursuits don’t end in the studio. Their home, a converted 19th-century barn on the edge of the city, is their most ambitious project to date. The structure was barely standing when they took it over. They effectively constructed a new building behind the old brick facade, framed by exposed timber trusses. It gave them an expansive double-height living room and kitchen, which they have filled with furniture by themselves and other leading Dutch creatives.
A highlight is van Bleiswijk’s “Construction Lamp”, a Meccano-esque design for Dutch furniture label Moooi, which creates a playful juxtaposition with the custom Lego station installed for the couple’s two young sons.
With the exhibition space now complete, van Eijk and van Bleiswijk are already looking ahead. Since 2021, they have run a DAE teaching unit of their own called Thinking Hands, where they encourage students to follow their experimental approach. In January, these students will showcase their own work in the Kiki and Joost gallery.
The duo have also been working with the municipality on a vision to transform the entire neighbourhood into a “design haven”, attracting more creatives to the area. “We hope we can inspire by doing this,” van Eijk says. “Eindhoven is rapidly growing — there is still momentum to do things here.”
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Scottish Widows is the latest insurer to launch its income protection product on Iress’s The Exchange platform.
The new IP product is in addition to Scottish Widows’ existing product offerings on the portal.
The Exchange is a widely-used online sourcing platform for financial advisers in the UK, particularly in the life insurance market.
It allows brokers to compare and source various insurance products, including life insurance, critical illness cover, and income protection, from multiple providers.
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Scottish Widows’ protection director, Rose St Louis, said: “Our goal is to help people to be better prepared financially if they were not able to work.
“Our new IP product is the next step on our mission to help people build their financial resilience and make it easier for advisers to serve more of their customers’ needs with a streamlined process and slicker experience through tech partners like Iress.”
Iress’s global head of product for sourcing, Jacqui Durbin, added: “As long-standing partners of Scottish Widows, we’re delighted to support its launch into the Income Protection space through our extensive distribution network on The Exchange.
“It also supports our commitment to offering the broadest range of products to brokers and advisers.”
THE popular Coca-Cola Christmas truck will return this year for another festive tour.
The iconic red vehicle will travel around towns and cities across Great Britain in the run up to Christmas.
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The Coca-Cola Christmas truck will return this year to the delight of fans
The 2024 tour promises to be ‘bigger and better than ever’ and will be set in a magical winter wonderland.
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Visitors will be able to take part in festive games and a lucky dip which will give them the chance to win exclusive Coca-Cola merchandise.
A food truck will serve up seasonal food and ice-cold Coca-Cola Zero Sugar drinks.
Meanwhile, a canopy of twinkling lights will help you to capture the perfect winter selfie in front of the iconic red truck.
The exact schedule for the tour has not yet been published but announcements will be made on the @CocaColaGBI Instagram account and @CocaCola_GB X page.
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Where did the truck stop last year?
Last year the red vehicle made stops across the UK in many large cities including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool and Manchester.
Among those joining long queues were many parents with excited children.
The destinations could change this year so keep an eye out for announcements in the coming weeks.
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What if I miss it?
This year fans of the fizzy drink who won’t be able to see the truck in person don’t need to worry about missing out.
From November Coca-Cola Zero Sugar and Coca-Cola Original Taste customers will be able to scan a QR code on the pack for the chance to win one of hundreds of festive gifts.
Among the top prizes are pre-loaded £200 ‘Festive Feast’ gift cards.
Why is the Coca-Cola truck famous?
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The Coca-Cola Christmas truck was first seen in the brand’s hugely popular 1995 advert.
At the time they were known as Christmas Caravans and were decorated with images of the Coca‑Cola Santa by artist Haddon Sundblom.
The 60-second clip features the now-iconic Holidays Are Coming song, which is still synonymous with Coca-Cola to this day.
The truck began touring the US in 2001 but didn’t start visiting the UK until 2010.
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Coca-Cola has also partnered with charity FareShare again this year.
It will donate a meal on behalf of every person that visits the Christmas Truck Tour.
Florence Wheatley, marketing manager for Coca-Cola Great Britain, said: “Coca-Cola has and remains synonymous with Christmas, with many people eagerly awaiting the Coca-Cola Christmas Truck Tour and Holidays Are Coming advert to create a little festive magic.
“This year, we’re delighted to continue our relationship with FareShare to support its mission to reduce hunger and surplus food waste.”
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Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.
Your guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world
Just before Donald Trump spoke last month in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a gunman nearly took his life, a short video played with images of George Washington crossing the Delaware river during the Revolutionary War.
“When will they ever learn?” the narrator asked in a deep voice. “This man cannot be stopped.”
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After a commanding victory over Kamala Harris in the US presidential election, in which he swept the battleground states and held a solid lead in the popular vote, the 78-year-old Republican is heading back to the White House for a second term.
Trump’s return represents a stunning political comeback for a man who had left office in disgrace in 2021 — defeated by Joe Biden, impeached for a second time, and widely condemned for seeking to overthrow the 2020 election and inciting the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
Trump will now feel vindicated to press ahead with plans that he has laid out throughout the campaign: high tariffs on a vast swath of imports, more confrontational relationships with traditional US allies, and a massive crackdown on illegal immigration. Trump may also feel free to deliver the retribution he has promised against his political foes, testing the country’s democratic institutions.
“America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate,” Trump said during his victory speech in West Palm Beach, Florida, near his Mar-a-Lago resort.
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Throughout the campaign, Trump was able to shed the stigma of all his legal troubles, including one criminal conviction in New York and other state and federal charges.
He benefited from the country’s rejection of the policies of the administration run by Biden and Harris, particularly the high inflation that unfolded under their watch, a surge in migrants at the southern border, their inability to end wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and a perception that they were too liberal on social issues such as transgender rights.
Trump was also able to overcome his biggest headwind — the backlash against conservative efforts to curb abortion rights after the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling to strip women of the constitutional right to end a pregnancy.
The new rightwing coalition, built by Trump and his allies in recent months, was driven by his strong support among male voters, gains across minority groups, and a big advantage among non-college educated Americans more generally. Disregarded were the violent rhetoric, misogyny and xenophobia permeating Trump’s speeches.
The loss to Trump will trigger a big round of soul-searching among Democrats, touching on not only their fading appeal with lower and middle-class Americans, but also the ill-fated decision to first back Biden’s re-election bid, then switch to Harris at the eleventh-hour.
Although Harris shifted to the political centre during her short campaign, courting anti-Trump Republicans and national security hawks while taking a more business-friendly approach to economic policy, too few voters occupied that space in a country that has become far more populist over the years.
Democrats will now have to regroup in opposition to the new American right under Trump, which appears far stronger than it was after the 2016 election. It now includes an alliance with Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, and a potential heir in JD Vance, the Ohio senator who is now set to become vice-president, who has embraced populist views on trade and economic policy, and vowed to be tougher on Wall Street.
Trump has also grown closer in recent weeks with Robert F Kennedy Jr, the vaccine sceptic and scion of the famed Massachusetts political dynasty, who mounted his own White House bid before endorsing Trump. He is now in line for a role in his administration.
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But even before he sets out to tap the loyalists he needs to staff his administration, Trump will bask in his political renaissance. “We overcame obstacles that nobody thought possible,” he said.
GROWING up in Scotland, I’ve always been fascinated by castles – they’re hard to miss as around 4000 of them are scattered throughout the country.
But I’ve never actually stayed in one, until now.
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Kilmartin Castle is located in Argyll and Bute – and is available to rentCredit: Anna Batchelor
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Built in the 16th century, the castle was abandoned in the 1790s until the current owners bought the property in 2015, transforming it into a boutique guest house
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Travel writer Jenna Maxwell stayed at Kilmartin Castle, where they foraged for food and dined in the grand hall at breakfast timeCredit: Jenna Maxwell
There are plenty of castle hotels and hotels that are made to look like castles, but Kilmartin Castle in Argyll and Bute is the real deal.
Built in the 16th century, the castle was abandoned in the 1790s and left to ruin until couple Stef and Simo bought the property in 2015, transforming it into a boutique guest house.
Their renovation journey featured on the Channel 4 show, The Great Hotel Escape.
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With its sloping ceilings, fairytale turrets and winding stone steps, it’s easy to imagine living within the castle walls 500 years ago.
But staying in one of the five unique rooms is a much cosier experience than it would’ve been in the 16th century.
Located on the West Coast of Scotland, the surrounding area of Argyll and Bute is known for its local wildlife and sweeping landscapes.
Kilmartin Castle is a three-hour drive from Edinburgh and a two-hour drive from Glasgow.
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Kilmartin Museum, which recently reopened after a £7million renovation project, is just a short walk away from the castle and tells the story of Kilmartin Glen.
Also nearby is Kilmartin Hotel, a lovely hotel with a great atmosphere and good food.
When we arrived at Kilmartin Castle, we were welcomed by Simo who showed us around, giving us a brief history lesson in the process.
Everything has a personal touch, making it feel like we were visiting grand friends.
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We stayed in Clarke, a luxury double room with untouched stonework, which has been painted in lime green, a commonly used colour in the 16th century.
And just like staying at a friend’s house, guests are encouraged to explore the castle and relax in its communal spaces like the grand hall, which is perfect to sit around the fire and enjoy a wee dram.
The pretty pink UK castle that is loved by Disney and Britney Spears
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For the more adventurous, there is a wild swimming pond on siteCredit: Anna Batchelor All Rights .Reserved 2024
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Last year, the New York Times put the castle and surrounding valley at no.4 in their list of ’52 Places to Go in 2023′Credit: Anna Batchelor
Even in the colder months, the stone castle doesn’t feel chilly as the couple have painstakingly lifted each original stone tile to install underground heating – walking around barefoot is quite surreal.
Breakfast is another interesting experience.
All guests gather under the stone barrel-vaulted ceiling of the dining room where they can help themselves to homemade granola and foraged fruits.
There is a list of experiences available to make your stay as special as possible.
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One thing we enjoyed was foraging for toppings for our homemade pizza, which we cooked in the wood-fired pizza oven with fresh herbs from the garden.
For the more adventurous, there is a wild swimming pond on site and guests can go on a Sea Safari on an antique wooden cruiser and try and spot eagles and dolphins.
I’m not the only one who thinks it’s wonderful – last year, the New York Times put it at no.4 in their list of ’52 Places to Go in 2023′
They said of the castle and the surrounding valley: “This verdant valley on Scotland’s wild west coast is one of the most significant prehistoric sites in Britain, yet it’s largely off the visitor circuit; imagine Stonehenge without the crowds.
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“For full immersion into the Scotland of yore, stay at the moody 16th-century Kilmartin Castle.”
Despite its hype, prices are quite reasonable for such an experience. The whole property is available to book out for private events, or group trips, from £1300 a night.
At the moment however, there is a winter deal for £800 a night to take over all five rooms of the castle – that’s only £160 each if you can organise four other couples to join you.
THE UK is home to some amazing castles – here are some of the best:
Bamburgh Castle
This medieval fortress is built overlooking the stunning Northumberland coast, offering a wonderfully picturesque place to explore some of England’s history.
The castle itself is incredibly well preserved and dates all the way back to the 11th century.
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Kenilworth Castle
Brits can find out about sieges and royal scandals at Kenilworth Castle, one of the most famous forts in the country.
The medieval castle has had a fascinating history and was even transformed into an Elizabethan palace.
Today its keep, its Tudor towers and Elizabethan garden are among the sites people can explore.
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Edinburgh Castle
Dominating the skyline of the Scottish capital, Edinburgh Castle has been dubbed “defender of the nation” by locals.
Today, the castle is still an active military base, with the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo remaining a highlight among visitors.
It’s also home to Scotland’s Crown Jewels as well as other national treasures
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Meanwhile, these are some of the most popular castle stays that can be booked in the UK.
Located on the West Coast of Scotland, the surrounding area of Argyll and Bute is known for its local wildlife and sweeping landscapesCredit: Emily Sandifer. info@emilysandiferphoto.
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