ASOS posts latest profits surge

Online fashion retailer ASOS.com posted a 93 per cent increase in year-on-year profits today, reflecting the website’s continued robustness in the face of recession.

The increase came on top of a 52 per cent increase on sales in the 13 weeks to June 26 compared to the same period in 2008. ASOS founder and chief executive Nick Robertson called it “an exceptional performance, given the current economic climate.”

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ASOS posts latest profits surge

Introduction to business investment

Getting investment for your business is a tough and complex process, but ultimately it could help you achieve your growth ambitions more quickly than other forms of business finance. We take a look at the pros and cons of securing investment for your business.

The business investor offering defined:

In private equity and venture capital an individual, group of individuals or company buys part of a business and makes money when the stake becomes more valuable as the business grows.

Introduction to business investment

Las Vegas and its perfect business model

Las Vegas offers the ideal business model: it has developed a culture in which spending money is integral to the experience of being there, and where people expect very little in return for their squandered dollars.

Most people who visit Las Vegas, that gaudy tribute to capitalism at its sparkliest, go home without a lot less money but not a lot more things. To part with one’s cash is par for the course.

Las Vegas and its perfect business model

Halifax is Hitwise UK double award winner

Halifax has achieved double success in the recent Hitwise Online Performance Awards – after being awarded two top ten ranking awards.

The annual Hitwise UK Online Performance Awards recognise excellence in online performance through public popularity, covering more than 50 key industries online.

Halifax is Hitwise UK double award winner

When student debt is a good thing

I was once asked what I thought was the biggest barrier for young people starting their own businesses. My reply was “getting into debt at university”. Well from the sounds of things the opposite might be true.

Depending on what paper you read, the average debt of a British student is between £15,000 and £20,000. That’s a nightmare sum of money for a young person and a burning incentive to get a high-paid job.

More here When student debt is a good thing

Small firms side-step the recession

Six in 10 small firms have thrown off the worst of the recession and either maintained or accelerated business growth, a new survey suggests.

Figures from PayPal and DIY website firm Mr Site show that the most ‘recession-proof’ industries have been education, manufacturing and public sector-focused firms. The legal professions and media have taken the worst hit, they said.

Read more here: Small firms side-step the recession

Get a grip, business boss slams politicians

The head of the CBI, Britain’s biggest business lobby group, says politicians have become obsessed with personal issues and are losing site of important economic goals.

Speaking at an industry event on Thursday evening, Richard Lambert gave a stark illustration of growing problems CBI director general including rising government debt, energy security, and fast-increasing youth unemployment, all of which require urgent attention, he said.

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Get a grip, CBI boss slams politicians

Entrepreneurs are most admired leaders

Sir Richard Branson is considered a great leader by six times more people than the prime minister, Gordon Brown – a stark sign of the varying popularity of political and business figures.

Six in 10 respondents to a survey for leadership development company Impact International said they rated Sir Richard as one of their most inspirational leaders while four in 10 said the same of Sir Alan Sugar (soon to be Lord Sugar).

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Entrepreneurs are most admired leaders

How I handled business failure, by Deborah Meaden

My first business was a financial failure. When I was 19 years old, fresh out of business school and after a brief stint as a fashion showroom model, I had moved to Italy.

I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do – I just had a burning desire to run my own show. I have always loved art and sculpture and was incredibly inspired by what I saw during my time in Florence.

How I handled business failure, by Deborah Meaden

How Max Clifford makes you famous

I interviewed PR legend Max Clifford last week at his offices in London. I was there for about 40 minutes but in that time I saw Chris Eubank and a soon-to-be famous starlet from this year’s Big Brother.

It’s a miracle how Clifford attracts famous people. There must be an almost constant stream of famous, formally famous and not yet famous people trundling through his meeting rooms, such is his renown in the PR industry…more here:

How Max Clifford makes you famous