Shortages saga: A third of UK mid-size firms forced to slim down offerings October 4, 2021 With the UK’s supply chains riddled with labour shortages and continued Covid-19-related hang-ups, a third of mid-size firms have been forced to reduce their offering. More than 34 per cent of businesses already trimmed their product lines and services by mid-September – before the fuel crisis had gripped the nation, according to accountancy firm BDO. [...]
Warehouse investment hits record levels as e-commerce fuels boom in demand January 31, 2022 Investment into warehousing and logistics hit record levels in the UK last year fuelled by a boom in online retail brought on by the pandemic.
Hungry for more: Just Eat boosts orders by 33 per cent as it targets route to profitability January 12, 2022 Just Eat Takeaway.com (Just Eat) grew 33 per cent to 1.1 billion orders in 2021 with the pandemic boosting sales across online marketplaces.
Ocado sales dip as pre-pandemic habits return, supermarket data finds August 17, 2021 The UK’s return to normality has been accompanied by a return to pre-pandemic shopping habits, with online and overall grocery sales declining. The latest grocery market share figures from Kantar for the period ending 8 August show that grocery sales fell by four per cent. The latest twelve weeks saw the lowest level of online [...]
EG Group’s billionaire Issa brothers snap up 52 KFC sites September 27, 2021 Petrol stations giant EG Group has snapped up over 50 KFC sites across the south of the UK for a not-yet-disclosed sum. It follows the Issa brother’s acquisition of Asda for £6.8bn last year with private equity group TDR Capital. The 52-KFC-site deal, with former owner of the sites Amsric Group, involves around 1,600 employees, [...]
Number of retail M&A deals soars as buyers eye economic recovery October 25, 2021 The number of M&A deals targeting UK retailers has swelled 28 per cent to 37 in the past year, new analysis has found. City law firm RPC found that the number of deals rose from 29 in the previous year while the Morrisons and Asda deals saw deal value skyrocket. Value has soared more than [...]
City sitdown: Private equity should learn to be more emotional, argues City grandee October 5, 2022 Whether you like it or not, private equity is a significant part of the UK economy and accounts for almost 50 percent of all deal value, double the level from just five years ago, according to a recent deal analysis from PwC. Its fingerprint has been all over household names including Asda, the AA, Morrisons and [...]
Schroders and Segro strike £345m industrial swap deal for seven warehouses October 4, 2021 Schroders’ UK Real Estate Fund said this morning it has completed a significant swap deal with Segro which involves seven industrial assets based across the UK. The recently completed transaction consisted of the sale of Matrix Park, in Park Royal London and a £65m capital payment in exchange for the simultaneous purchase of a portfolio [...]
Maybe 2023: BrewDog momentum for London listing stalls October 18, 2021 BrewDog’s momentum for a market debut in London appears to have slowed as the brewing operation eyes 2023 for a float.“Could it be sometime in 2022? Maybe. 23? Maybe,” CEO and co-founder James Watt told The Daily Telegraph.Watt was keen to distance the listing cooling from ex-staffers’ claims of a “culture of fear” at BrewDog. [...]
Sainsbury’s shares rocket: Investors eye supermarket’s property portfolio August 23, 2021 Sainsbury’s shares were up 15 per cent cent after reports that a private equity giant is poised to launch a bid topping £7bn. Shares in J Sainsbury rose by 15 per cent on Monday to 338.89p, after closing on 294.70p. Apollo Global Management is reportedly considering a bid for the supermarket after previously losing out [...]