Coming to America: Primark signs deal for a further seven stores in the US October 20, 2014 Primark is to open a further seven stores in the US, including its first in New York, through a lease deal with Sears Holdings revealed today. The value retailer is taking on around 520,000 gross square feet of retail space in mall-based stores in the north east of the US. Primark will take on [...]
Dixons Carphone boss Sebastian James steals Retail Week Power List crown from Next’s Simon Wolfson June 26, 2015 Dixons Carphone chief executive Sebastian James has been crowned the most powerful person in British retailing, knocking Next's Simon Wolfson off the top spot. James has stolen the number one position in Retail Week's annual Power List, published today, for his work successfully merging the two retailers, creating a £10bn business that swooped into [...]
Marks & Spencer slips back into decline after just one quarter of growth July 7, 2015 Marks and Spencer's general merchandise arm has slipped back into decline following just one quarter of growth. The figures: M&S' story is pretty much the same as it has been for many months. Total sales in general merchandise were up 0.2 per cent but like-for-likes were down 0.4 per cent, reversing a solitary [...]
Associated British Foods nears deal for first Primark warehouse in the US September 8, 2014 ASSOCIATED British Foods said yesterday its clothing giant Primark was close to striking a deal for a warehouse in the US to support its first foray in the country. Primark is set to open a 70,000 square foot store in Boston in 2015, and it is also in talks to open a further nine shops [...]
Responsible investing: Do bonds that make the world a better place fit into your portfolio? October 1, 2015 When the return on traditional bonds is so low, why not invest in ones that make society better? The UK was once home to a thriving social bond market, where investors of all stripes clubbed together to fund socially beneficial projects. The 1960s was the heyday of loaning money to local authorities, and in [...]
Zara founder Amancio Ortega’s buying spree on Oxford St April 12, 2015 The billionaire founder of Spanish clothing empire Inditex has snapped up a cluster of buildings on the east end of London’s Oxford Street. Amancio Ortega, who founded the fashion giant Zara in 1975, is understood to have bought a development at 26-48 Oxford Street from property companies Land Securities and Frogmore through his investment vehicle [...]
Matalan chief Jason Hargreaves makes retailer a family affair May 14, 2015 Jason Hargreaves made a trip to Oxford Street earlier this year with his four-year-old daughter in tow. The managing director of Matalan, the out-of-town value fashion and homeware chain founded by his father, John Hargreaves, 30 years ago, came to view its first ever central London store at the east end of on Oxford [...]
John Lewis is named the retailer with the strongest reputation March 19, 2015 Middle-class shoppers’ favourite John Lewis was yesterday declared the retailer with the best reputation in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), a survey found. The survey, by the Reputation Institute, also showed that among the firms whose reputation had improved the most between 2013 and 2014 were WH Smith and H&M. However, there was bad [...]
FTSE hits a high but slips back despite UK inflation data – London Report March 24, 2015 ANOTHER day, another all-time high was the call yesterday for Britain’s top share index – although it did slip back at the close – and record low UK inflation data kept investors confident over the market’s longer-term prospects. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index rose as much as 0.4 per cent to a record intraday high [...]
Sunday Times Rich List 2015: London has more billionaires than any other city in the world April 26, 2015 There are more billionaires in London than any other city in the world, with 80 of them calling the capital home, cementing its status as a playground for the super-rich. London is home to 80 of the UK's 117 billionaires, who hold a combined wealth of £325bn, accounting for 59 per cent of the entire rich [...]