City Moves for 10 February 2014 | Who’s switching jobs February 9, 2014 Deloitte The professional services firm has appointed Rachel Crowley as go to market director in its real estate division. She joined Deloitte’s financial services practice in 2006 and became a director in 2013. Crowley previously held marketing roles at Accenture in Paris and London. Baker Tilly The law firm has hired Peter Vandervelde as head [...]
Record sales lift Poundland float prospects January 23, 2014 POUNDLAND has boasted record sales over the key Christmas trading period, further paving the way for a potential initial public offering (IPO), expected to take place within the coming months. The bargain chain, which plans to double its UK presence over the next decade, said new shop openings helped sales rise more than 12.4 per [...]
Grocery sales grow at slowest pace since 2005 February 11, 2014 BRITAIN’S grocery market is growing at its slowest pace since 2005, with only discounters as well as Waitrose and Sainsbury’s defying the downturn and growing market share. Figures out yesterday from Kantar Worldpanel showed that grocery sales rose by 2.4 per cent in the 12 weeks to 2 February compared with the same time last [...]
M&S sales lose their shine after poor Christmas January 6, 2014 MARKS & Spencer is set to report poor festive trading this week as heavy discounting activity in the run-up to Christmas failed to spark a late surge in spending. Analysts predict the retailer will report a drop in third quarter general merchandise sales of as much as 1.5 per cent, despite a highly publicised revamp [...]
Sports Direct buys up stake in Debenhams January 13, 2014 An unusual decision from Sports Direct this morning, but markets seem to like it. The retailer announced this morning that it's bought a 4.6 per cent stake in Debenhams. Shares in the latter have climbed over five per cent on the news: In a statement this morning, Sports Direct said that the move is to [...]
How the UK could cut public spending Singapore-style March 17, 2014 TOMORROW’S Budget will make it all too clear that, to get Britain’s public finances into a healthier state, further tight control of spending will be necessary. But as I’ve shown in my Gresham professorial lectures on how the West must adapt to cope with globalisation, recent spending restraint has been nowhere near enough to keep [...]
Bottom Line: From wardrobe staple to the bargain bin January 6, 2014 AS WE wait for the Marks and Spencer Christmas trading figures later this week, expectations are that its fashion sales won’t show much sign of festive cheer. If so, it needs to start the new year with a long, hard look in the mirror. It is true that general conditions won’t have helped: figures from [...]
Inside Track: Don’t fret: there’s no doubt the deals are on their way January 23, 2014 ONE banker told me the pipeline for new issue deals is as big as he has seen it over the past decade. While another deal-maker says he’s been getting up at 4.30am every morning. And that’s not to watch re-runs of The Wire or Mad Men. It’s the only way to get his work done. [...]
Good test results for York Potash November 4, 2013 British potash miner Sirius Minerals yesterday said it had received positive results on a range of tests on the York Potash Project’s polyhalite fertiliser product. “Independent confirmation of nutrient release, solubility, pH and conductivity are important components of the value of polyhalite for our wholesale customers and their end-user farmers,” said chief executive and managing [...]
A two-speed high street January 9, 2014 A CLEAR split between Britain’s winners and losers in the battle for consumers’ cash this Christmas emerged yesterday, as three of the biggest retail chains revealed worse-than-expected trading. Poor results from Tesco, Morrisons and Marks & Spencer added to dreary updates from Sainsbury’s and Mothercare, with heavy discounting, weak consumer spending and the rising discount [...]