Jim Armitage: Why no confidence news failed to send down the pound

Exciting though today’s confidence vote declaration was, the pound did not plunge as you might have expected. Why? Several reasons.

Most obviously, investors have been expecting a challenge for the past fortnight, so the event itself was already in the price.

Second, the markets still reckon that, on balance, Theresa May will win.

Her call for unity in the party this morning was skilfully designed to guilt-trip the waverers into backing her. If it works, there will be no change to the current wobbly status quo.

Third, if she doesn’t prevail, there’s no telling who will be her successor, and a full leadership election could take weeks.

Victory for a relatively moderate Sajid Javid or Jeremy Hunt would cause the pound to leap on hopes of a soft exit similar to May’s plan; success for a hardliner like Boris would cause the opposite.

You have to assume whoever wins would be more hawkish than May, but why position your exposure to the pound now when the outcome is so uncertain?

Another issue is rising in the background that stops the pound falling too far: today’s new dose of chaos makes a second referendum ever more likely.

From being discounted as an absurdity a month ago, there is a growing chance that Brexit may not happen after all.

How to lose your cool with teenagers

How many teenagers do you know who want to dress like their little brothers and sisters? Thought not.

One of the joys of turning 13 is wielding the power to choose your own clothes. To pledge allegiance to your own tribe. For many, Superdry’s gear fits the bill; it’s streetwise, edgy. Not bought for you by your nan or worn by 10-year-olds.

Apparently, its management doesn’t get that. Hence its move into selling kidswear.

While they’ll get a short-term sales boost from elastic-waisted jeans for tots, longer term, young adults who make up a chunk of the core customer base will go elsewhere. It happened at Abercrombie & Fitch; it will happen at Superdry.