The Works continues post-pandemic comeback as arts and crafts sales soar September 23, 2022 The Works continues its valiant post-pandemic comeback as revenue climbs for the high street arts and crafts store. For the year ending 1 May, total revenue hit £264.6m for the retailer, up 46.5 per cent compared with 2021 levels. This was bolstered by the fact that two-year like-for-like sales climbed 10.5 per cent, with positive growth [...]
PwC: UK media market set to overtake Germany as largest in Europe August 14, 2024 The UK is on track to dethrone Germany as Europe’s largest entertainment and media market next year, driven by a surge in internet advertising and a resurgence in cinema and live music, according to new PwC data. Despite a sluggish recovery from a flat 2023, the UK’s entertainment and media sector is forecast to exceed [...]
FTSE 100 reshuffle: M&S in, Abrdn out, but who else is coming and going? August 29, 2023 As the reshuffle of the FTSE 100 index approaches, several firms are vying for a coveted spot among the UK's top-tier stocks.
Naked Wines admits ‘mistakes’ as retailer sets out shake up October 20, 2022 Naked Wines has announced a shake up of the business in a bid to cut costs,including 30 redundancies. The wine retailer, which enjoyed booming sales in the pandemic, said it had “made mistakes” while pursuing “rapid growth.” Low consumer confidence and high levels of supply chain inflation had resulted in an underwhelming performance for the [...]
B&M: Bargain hunting Brits help budget chain’s revenues top £1bn June 29, 2023 Brits seeking out bargains have continued to drive earnings at value retailer B&M as it reported a 13.5 per cent rise in group revenue in the first leg of the year. The news, however, failed to impress investors as its share price slumped over 6 per cent when markets opened this morning. The homeware to [...]
I’d never normally protest, but Sunak is bleeding the tourist economy dry November 1, 2023 Sir Rocco Forte and a host of other business leaders are protesting over the tourist tax today. He explains why.
Lavazza burned by surging coffee bean costs with earnings down double-digits July 6, 2023 Lavazza has warned over a double-digit drop in earnings this year amid surging coffee bean costs and said its prices are not set to come down for consumers until 2024. The Italian coffee giant said it is braced for a hefty drop in underlying earnings over 2023 as it looks to limit price hikes. It [...]
Banks, inflation, recession, gold AND Ocado: Five lessons the markets taught us this week March 31, 2023 It’s spring. The days are longer, the sun is shining, and fears about the imminent implosion of the global financial system are fading, for now anyway. Markets appeared to calm down after several weeks of banking-related aftershocks and both the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 were on course to end the week on a positive [...]
Halfords: Profit slides as cycling and motoring retailer warns of ‘soft’ trading June 27, 2024 Halfords has reported a slide in profit as the cycling and motoring retailer cut its dividend and warned of "soft" trading for the current financial year.
Supermarket fuel margins more than double since Ukraine war July 22, 2023 Supermarkets have more than doubled their margins on fuel since the start of the war in Ukraine, new analysis suggests. The RAC said Asda, Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s were making an average of around 4.7p per litre on fuel sales when the Russian invasion began in February 2022. The motoring services company found this had [...]