Sports Direct share price falls as Mike Ashley’s retailer posts underwhelming first half results December 10, 2015 Sports Direct's share price fell this morning after reporting underwhelming first half figures. The figures The Mike Ashley-owned retailer had a solid six months to 25 October, with group revenue ticking up 0.1 per cent to £1.43bn, while underlying pre-tax profit rose 3.6 per cent to £166.4m and EBITDA rose 7.6 per cent to £218.5m. [...]
Pure Gym hires ex-Wiggle boss Humphrey Cobbold January 20, 2015 Budget fitness chain Pure Gym is making sure it stays in shape after hiring the former boss of Wiggle, the online cycling retailer, to become its new chief executive. Humphrey Cobbold, who stepped down as chief executive of Wiggle in 2013, has taken over the reins from Pure Gym’s founder Peter Roberts, who is now [...]
Dennis Publishing to launch free fitness magazine Coach August 20, 2015 Dennis Publishing, the company behind Men's Fitness, Viz, and This Week, is set to make its biggest gamble in years with a multi-million pound investment in a free, weekly health and fitness magazine, called Coach. Coach will cover a broad content mix of technology, careers, fashion and modern living, as well as health and [...]
Insecurity of tenure, inadequate legal protection and a lack of publicly available information: The UK’s dysfunctional rental market is due a shake-up December 2, 2015 Insecurity of tenure, inadequate legal protection and a severe lack of publicly available information on individual rental properties are just some of the woes reported by this country’s nine million renters. But for me, by far the worst characteristic is the breath-taking amateurishness which underpins every aspect of the rental experience. The Private Landlords Survey [...]
Beware mayoral wannabes pledging a Tube fare freeze: The numbers don’t stack up January 5, 2016 While most resolutions – especially those involving regular gym attendance – do not last beyond January, there is one New Year tradition that is guaranteed to be with us for the whole year: Transport for London’s annual fare increase. Londoners will be familiar with the routine. Sometime between singing Auld Lang Syne on New Year’s [...]
Olympic medallist Sir Chris Hoy is joining forces with Pure Gym June 24, 2015 OLYMPIC Gold medal winner Sir Chris Hoy has joined forces with Pure Gym after investing an undisclosed sum in the fast-growing budget fitness chain. The cyclist and six-time Gold medal winner, who retired two years ago, has agreed to join the group as an ambassador and special adviser to help improve customer experience, Pure Gym [...]
The No.1 Fitness 12-week challenge: health myths busted November 3, 2015 As our fitness guinea-pig Sam Pridham begins to bulk up after four weeks with No.1 Fitness, we ask his trainer Ben Camara to point out some common health misconceptions: That running will get you toned: People think that if they drag themselves out of bed in the morning and run round the park a few times they’ll get [...]
Virgin Active hires boss of Woolworths SA December 3, 2014 VIRGIN Active has hired the boss of South African supermarket giant Woolworths to become its new chairman after Richard Baker stepped down from the gym group yesterday. Simon Susman has replaced him with immediate effect, Virgin Active said. Baker, who has been at the helm of Virgin Active since 2008, was poached this summer to [...]
Virgin Active to bulk up in size in Asia and Africa June 22, 2015 Virgin Active, one of the world’s largest gym chains, said yesterday it will step up growth in Asia and Africa, and embark on a complete overhaul of its online platform this year following, its acquisition by South African billionaire Christo Wiese. The fitness group was on course for a listing on the Johannesburg stock market [...]
Jerky Group and Cruga form beef snacks empire August 4, 2015 THE JERKY Group has merged with biltong and meat snacks-maker Cruga to create the largest beef snack manufacturer in Europe with combined turnover of around £12m. Founded in 2000, The Jerky Group’s brands include Wild West Jerky, Hogbites pork crackling and BullOx Biltong. It also produces Dragon’s Den entrepreneur Joe Walters’ beef jerky brand Texas [...]