Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered Labour’s first Budget in 14 years, announcing £40bn of tax rises, Central London Alliance comments
Iceland to take over a handful of former Poundworld stores while rescue deal falls through August 23, 2018 Iceland is to take over a handful of former Poundworld stores, but a deal to save another chunk of the chain's estate has now fallen through. The retailer closed the last of its 335 stores earlier this month, after crashing into administration in June. The Henderson family announced two weeks ago that they would take [...]
Property legal Q&A: I own a flat with a short lease and cannot afford to extend it. I am now facing difficulty selling my property. Do I have any options? August 23, 2018 You don’t say how short the lease is but it appears to be short enough to deter potential buyers from buying your property. Some lenders require a minimum of 85 years left to run on a lease before they will be willing to lend. Parties are generally worried the nearer the lease gets to 80 [...]
Persimmon produce stable 1H numbers August 23, 2018 Persimmon shares are higher this week after the company registered a strong set of first-half results on Tuesday. Revenue jumped by 5% and pre-tax profit rose by 13%. The average selling price of a new home rose by 1%, which is a slight decrease on the 1.2% growth achieved in the first-quarter. The underlying new housing [...]
Luke Johnson still ‘optimistic’ on leisure sector after selling stake in restaurant group Ego August 22, 2018 Veteran restaurant investor Luke Johnson has said he is still "optimistic" about the leisure sector despite recent high-profile failures. His comments came after it was confirmed that he has sold his stake in 3Sixty, the parent company of 17-strong restaurant chain Ego, to hospitality behemoth Mitchells and Butlers for what he told City A.M. was [...]
Target hits the bull’s-eye with highest same-store sales growth in 13 years August 22, 2018 Target has bucked the retail trend to publish strong sales growth today, reporting same-store sales that were higher than any it recorded in the past 13 years. The New York-listed retailer, the second largest in the US, saw same-store sales grow 4.9 per cent year-on-year in the three months ending early August, with the company crediting increasing [...]
Former Arsenal shareholder settles lawsuit with Deloitte and Linklaters August 22, 2018 Former major Arsenal Football Club shareholder Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith, has settled a lawsuit with her advisers over the sale of her shares in the club in 2011 to US businessman Stan Kroenke. Bracewell-Smith accused magic circle law firm Linklaters and Big Four accountant Deloitte of negligence in relation to the sale of her 15.9 per cent stake [...]
Laura Ashley scraps dividend after profits are slashed August 22, 2018 Laura Ashley blamed “a changing retail landscape” for a dramatic fall in profits this morning that saw them all but eradicated, and which led to its chairman not recommending a dividend for investors. The figures Amid a “challenging” trading environment the high street stalwart saw statutory profits crash by 98 per cent for the 12 [...]
Market influencer: City brokers look for the likes as social media boosts brands’ growth August 21, 2018 Brokers are hitting “like” on companies that have strong social media engagement, as UBS yesterday became the latest to factor Instagram influence into its ratings. The Swiss bank announced that it will now track the performance of 19 luxury brands on Instagram and Google Search,tracking “social media heat”. Analyst Julie Zhuang said there is a [...]
Mulberry shares plummet on cost of House of Fraser collapse August 20, 2018 Shares in Mulberry plummeted as much as 30 per cent this morning as it said that the restructuring of House of Fraser could cost it around £3m. The luxury leather goods brand, which operates 21 concessions in HoF stores, said that sales in the department stores had been particularly hard-hit by challenging retail conditions in [...]
Former Staples chain Office Outlet to close stores in new CVA filing August 19, 2018 Stationery chain Office Outlet, formerly known as Staples, is set to launch a Company Voluntary Arrangement – an insolvency procedure to reduce stores and costs – tomorrow and close a selection of its 96 UK stores. Sources today told Sky News that the retailer, which was bought by restructuring fund Hilco in 2016, will request a [...]