Author: LondonTribune
“2025 is going to be our biggest year yet,” predicts Matt Hopkins owner of Ind!e, a UK company driving a retail renaissance with services that pair ambitious smaller brands with household big hitters.The comprehensive support system it has developed, and now plans to scale with an investment raise, is built around four elements that organise connections in store and online. Covering the fashion, beauty, homeware, food and drink sectors, the benefits for brands include affordable market entry, sales growth, increased visibility and access to expertise.For retailers it’s the chance to offer more choice and engage customers with Ind!e handling operations.The…
China’s semiconductor imports were up more than 14 percent in 2024 as companies in the country stockpiled ahead of widely expected fresh restrictions from Washington and pressure grows to develop local alternatives instead. Between January and November this year, China imported a total of 501.47 billion chips, a 14.8 percent increase over the same period last year, according to the South China Morning Post. It was quoting figures released this week by Beijing’s General Administration of Customs that showed the country spent $349 billion on imported silicon, up 10.5 percent. This jump in the volume of semiconductors flooding into the…
The Godfather cocktail is a simple two-ingredient build of Scotch whisky and amaretto liqueur, typically served in a rocks glass over ice. The origins of this modern classic are unclear, but the cocktail came into popularity soon after the groundbreaking family crime drama The Godfather took over the world’s movie screens in the early 1970s. The drink is said to have been inspired by the Oscar-winning film. In many of the earliest recipes, the Italian amaretto liqueur producer Disaronno is specifically called for. The brand — which wasn’t imported into the U.S. until the 1960s but became one of the…
Pop superstar Taylor Swift performing her Eras Tour in London last summer (Image: Getty)Music is everywhere and always has been. It’s in the rhythm of our heartbeats and our breathing and our walking. It’s in the rising and falling of our speaking voices. When we exaggerate that rising and falling, it turns into song – and all of us sing, if only in the privacy of our own showers.But why is music important to us? Why do our playlists somehow define us? That’s harder to say. Music is mysterious. Even in songs – which have words – it’s difficult to…
Path of Exile 2’s massive early-access launch came with some unforeseen consequences, as developer Grinding Gear Games is now struggling to keep up with player-support requests.The dark fantasy ARPG’s launch proved to be huge. Grinding Gear Games confirmed it sold more than 1 million early-access keys across PC and consoles, and Path of Exile 2 peaked at over 570,000 concurrent players on Steam shortly after its release on December 6. It has remained one of the top-played and top-selling games on the platform since release.Unfortunately for Grinding Gear Games, the huge influx of players is wreaking havoc on the studio’s…
RECYCLING BOSS: Fashion giant Hugo Boss is making further steps toward meeting its sustainability pledge by unveiling on Wednesday the creation of an independent company for the recycling and reuse of deadstock materials. Aimed at managing the company’s surplus materials, Eightyards GmbH is a new entity fully owned by Hugo Boss AG and based in Metzingen, Germany. It will kick off operations next January. “The mission of the company over the coming years is to establish itself as one of the key facilitators for the recycling and reuse of surplus materials into various industries beyond fashion,” the Hugo Boss company…
The data, compiled by iwoca, one of Europe’s largest SME lenders, finds that 44% of companies plan to host a Christmas party for staff this year, down from 63% who said they did in previous years.Business owners who aren’t hosting a get-together for staff say it could be down to either a lack of Christmas cheer or rising costs. Nearly a third (30%) of company leaders say they never have social occasions at work, while a quarter (23%) claim staff just don’t want a Christmas party.When it comes to costs, a fifth (21%) of small businesses say the cost of…
Chelsea make the eight-hour trip to Kazakhstan for their Conference League match against FC Astana on Thursday.For the Chelsea players who travel to Almaty, it will be a long flight mid-season for the Blues as they conclude the League Phase in the Conference League.Enzo Maresca’s side have won all four of their matches so far – beating KAA Gent, Panathinaikos, FC Noah and 1. FC Heidenheim – and will look to finish with a 100 per cent record when they play Astana and Shamrock Rovers in their final two matches this month before the knockouts.Chelsea’s star players will remain in…
NIGEL Farage is the favourite to replace Sir Keir Starmer as Prime Minister at the next election – as he declared the Tories in “much deeper trouble” than they realise.The Reform UK leader finds himself leading the pack to enter Downing Street, according to the latest odds.He has edged ahead of Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and Labour number two Angela Rayner as the firm favourite, Ladbrokes say.The odds have also dropped on Reform UK winning the most amount of seats to 9/4 having started on 16/1.The Tories are currently in front when it comes to having the most seats at…
Martin Lewis has clarified a common misconception about when investing in NS&I’s Premium Bonds for children becomes worthwhile.In a new social post, the Money Saving Expert founder explained that Premium Bonds only offer a reasonable return only under specific circumstances, such as having a substantial investment (around £10,000 or more) and being liable to pay tax on savings interest.Most children, he pointed out, neither meet these criteria nor benefit meaningfully from small investments. Mr Lewis added that with £1,000 in Premium Bonds, the typical return over a year is likely to be “nothing”.He wrote on X: “Why do so many…
Copilot has gone native for Windows Insiders and comandeered a popular keyboard shortcut in the process. The move from a Progressive Web App (PWA) to a native binary – although most of it appears to still be a website, just not running as a PWA – will be welcomed. Microsoft noted that once the app update has been installed, Copilot will appear in the system tray. However, the assistant’s quick view feature has been given the Alt+Space keyboard shortcut. This is already used by many other applications, including Microsoft’s own PowerToys. PowerToys Run, for example, uses Alt+Space to open a…
If you make cookies often, you’ve likely come across the instruction to refrigerate your dough before baking. It might be tempting to overlook this step so you can, well, eat your cookies sooner. But we promise that it’s worth the wait. If you allow your dough to chill, for at least 30 minutes and up to a day, your cookies will bake more evenly — and taste better to boot. Why you should refrigerate your cookie dough Refrigerating your cookie dough before baking serves a few purposes: The dough will be easier to roll out Think about your favorite cut-out sugar…