In tune: Synth makers Sequential snapped up by Focusrite for £18m as revenues grow April 27, 2021 High-end synthesizer firm Sequential boasted revenues of $18.3m last year, which hit all the right notes for audio products company Focusrite to buy it for $24m today. The existing management and team will stay with the California based Sequential post-acquisition. Meanwhile, the company could receive up to $4m more, depending on its performance. Focusrite’s board [...]
Pod Point hires Bank of America to help with float plan – report April 7, 2021 Electric vehicle charging firm Pod Point has reportedly brought on Bank of America to work on a potential stock market float. According to Sky News, the firm could go public at some point this year, with Bank of America working together with Barclays on the deal. Pod Point is majority owned by French energy giant [...]
Supermarket clothing sales double as shoppers seek retail therapy April 7, 2021 Supermarket clothing sales boomed last month as consumers sought in-person shopping experiences while non-essential retailers were closed, in a positive indicator of pent up demand ahead of high streets reopening next week. Sales of clothing at supermarkets doubled to £313m in the four weeks ended 27 March. Home and garden sales also collectively jumped to [...]
Deutshe Bank mulls ditching EY as auditor following Wirecard scandal May 28, 2021 Deutshe Bank is inviting firms to compete for its 2020 audit just two years after hiring EY to replace KPMG, in a move that could see EY ditched in favour of another company. The chair of Germany’s biggest lender Paul Achleitner told shareholders that the company wants “to keep all its options open” when it [...]
Tesco, M&S and John Lewis among UK retail giants to threaten Brazil boycott over Amazon deforestation May 5, 2021 UK retail giants including Tesco, Marks & Spencer and John Lewis have threatened to boycott Brazillian agricultural commodities over the deforestation of the Amazon. In an open letter published today the retailers said they will take action if Brazil’s government passes a law expanding property rights for squatters on public land. Campaigners have warned that [...]
Morrisons online sales continue to soar despite lockdown easing May 11, 2021 Morrisons said online sales have continued to soar this year despite the lifting of lockdown restrictions. In an update this morning the supermarket chain said online sales were up 113 per cent in the 14 weeks ended 9 May compared to the same period last year. Internet sales helped boost group like-for-like sales excluding fuel [...]
South Western Railway won’t restore pre-pandemic rail service in ‘attack’ on business October 21, 2021 South Western Railway (SWR) will not restore its London rail services to pre-pandemic levels next year in a move that has been labelled as “an attack” on central London’s economic recovery. Figures, compiled by the Liberal Democrats, show SWR will cut their services across South West London from December 2022, compared to pre-pandemic levels, by [...]
Supermarket sales improve tentatively after restaurant reopening hit July 27, 2021 UK supermarket sales improved slightly in the last four weeks as Brits stocked up on beers for the Euros and picnic items to enjoy in the sun, according to new data released today. Total till sales over the four weeks ending 17th July were down 1.3 per cent on the same period last year, new [...]
Sainsbury’s cuts market share decline as Aldi and Lidl soar June 25, 2019 Sainsbury’s has cut short the decline in its market share as discount rivals Aldi and Lidl continue to boost sales. Customer spend at Sainsbury’s dipped 0.6 per cent in the three months to 16 June, an improvement on the 1.2 per cent decline in the previous period following its failed merger with Asda. Read more: [...]
Panic over: Brits made 117m fewer trips to the supermarket this March March 30, 2021 Brits made 117m fewer trips to supermarkets this month than in March 2020, which was a month that saw supermarket shelves stripped bare as consumers started panic buying ahead of the UK’s first national lockdown. Grocery sales fell three per cent in the four weeks to 21 March 2021, while during the same period last [...]