LegoLand New York

Merlin Entertainments is to invest £265m in opening a Legoland theme park in New York as it presses ahead with global expansion. The owner of Madame Tussauds and Alton Towers said that the new Legoland will open in 2020 and be located in Goshen, Orange County, 60 miles north-west of the Big Apple. The resort will create over 1,000 US jobs, in addition to 800 construction jobs in its development phase. The move comes after Merlin also said it would build Legoland parks in South Korea with plans for further parks in China. Boss Nick Varney said: "Legoland New York is the first new major theme park in the North East of the US for several decades, and is perfectly located for visitors from New York, Boston, and Philadelphia and beyond. Its London attractions - which include the Coca-Cola London Eye and the London Dungeons - saw a marked drop-off in visitor numbers after the recent spate of attacks, while the group's theme parks also suffered in a "difficult" market after the UK's threat level was raised.

Lego Land New York

Posh Squash

Britvic is adding two new Robinsons products to its portfolio, including a cordial that has twice the amount of fruit than original Robinsons. Fruit Creations comes in nine fruit flavours including Mandarin & Lime and Fresh Pear & Blueberry. It contains no added sugar and falls under the threshold of the UK sugar tax, which is due to be implemented next year. Britvic said the range, which launches next month, is designed to appeal to adults "looking for more exciting flavour blends". At the same time, Britvic will launch Robinsons Cordials, which it describes as a "more sophisticated cordials range". The three flavours - Pressed Pear & Elderflower, Raspberry, Rhubarb & Orange Blossom and Crushed Lime & Mint – come packaged in 50cl glass bottles for a "premium look and feel", the company said. The launches will be supported by a GBP3m (US$4m) through-the-line campaign primarily focusing on Fruit Creations, Britvic said.

Posh Squash

Liberty Advent Calendar

Retailing at £175 each, Liberty's luxury beauty advent calendar certainly doesn't come cheap. But that didn't stop eager shoppers queuing round the block for the coveted calendar this morning. Over half of the stock had sold online before the doors opened at 8.30am - that's 33 per minute - making it the fastest selling, and most successful product in the company's 147 year history. It takes a team of Liberty staff over a year to pull together the calendar and this year, sixty percent of products within the calendar are full sized - worth around £500 in total. Surprisingly, men outnumbered women in the queue 2 for 1, although many did declare that they were picking up the festive treat for their partner or loved ones. To celebrate the launch, 10 calendars in store also included a £100 gift coin in one of the drawers.

Liberty Advent

Stonewall Top Employer

Stonewall’s Top Global Employers list showcases the best multinational employers for lesbian, gay, bi and trans (LGBT) staff. The list is compiled from submissions to the Global Workplace Equality Index: a powerful benchmarking tool used by employers to create inclusive workplaces across the markets in which they operate. Stonewall aims to celebrates the pioneering efforts of leading organisations to create inclusive workplaces and advance equality for LGBT people, wherever they are in the world. At Stonewall we know that people perform better when they can be themselves. Financial company Accenture were just one of the companies recognised as making a difference in supporting inclusive workplaces. 

Stonewall Workplace Study 

Celebrating Immigration

British fashion brand Jigsaw is celebrating immigration it its new ad campaign. In answer to the idea that immigration threatens “British values”, the love immigration campaign comes with a manifesto, which begins “British Style is not 100 per cent British. In fact, there’s no such thing as 100 per cent British.” Peter Ruis, chief executive of Jigsaw, told The Independent that his team was discussing their next campaign and, as a relatively small brand that only runs one big marketing campaign a year, decided to go for something bold. “The world is such a crazy place at the moment … it seemed facile to do a nice little campaign,” he said. So, using the fact that there are 45 nationalities working within Jigsaw as a hook, the company created a celebration of Britain as a nation of immigrants. 

Jigsaw Immigration

Future Of Retail

Can you imagine doing the weekly grocery shop in a store with no assistants and no way of paying with cash? Developments in self-driving vehicles, mobile payments, data analysis and wireless tagging of stock could all completely change our shopping experience. Meet the companies who want to revolutionise the retail world. Do you think this is the future of retail?

Future Shops

McVegan

So prepare to rejoice with the news that the fast food chain has finally created a vegan burger! Catchily named the McVegan, it consists of a soy-based patty topped with tomato, salad, pickles and vegan McFeast sauce, sandwiched between a bun. Unfortunately for British vegans, however, the McVegan is currently only available in Finland, and for a limited time only. McDonald’s have decided to trial the burger in Tampere, Finland, from 4 October to 21 November. However, if it’s popular, we can hope the McVegan might be rolled out globally.
McVegan

Smell The Profits

Corporate giants such as Estee Lauder, L'Oreal and Coty have dominated the fragrance market but things may be about to change."Everything smells the same - people are getting bored of the big brands and want something different," says Nick Steward, the London-based founder of a new fragrance brand, Gallivant. He is convinced that there is a growing appetite for "something more personal that other people don't have". He now sells his fragrances online and via specialist retailers in the US, Italy, Germany and as far away as Australia.The Gallivant range of unisex fragrances are inspired by and named after cities such as Tel Aviv and London.They are packaged in air-travel-friendly 30ml bottles - smaller than the standard industry sizes.Mr Steward says that also makes them more affordable, reflecting consumers' desire to have a variety of fragrances to choose from. He is seeking a slice of the fragrance market - worth about $27bn (£20bn; €22bn) a year globally.

Gallivant Fragrances

Right Back To Business

Former right-back Richard Eckersley, now 28, made his professional debut at the 'Theatre of Dreams' less than nine years ago, but is now running the UK's first zero waste food shop in the quaint Devon town of Totnes. Customers bring their own jars, bags, bottles and boxes and buy raw materials without packaging. "Football's incredible in the sense that it connects people all over the world - there's so many fans out there that are so passionate about football. But if we don't have a planet to live on, and it's not thriving and it's not healthy, then football doesn't matter, it doesn't make a difference any more."

Zero Waste Business