Walker to bid £1bn for food firm Iceland October 10, 2010 THE boss of frozen food chain Iceland is planning a £1bn takeover of the firm he founded four decades ago, although he faces a potential bid battle, it emerged yesterday. Malcolm Walker, who together with other managers owns about a quarter of the retailer, is thought to have offered to buy the remaining 76 per cent [...]
SHAREHOLDER VIEWS: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF MARC BOLLAND? July 14, 2010 ARIT AMANA | SOUTH LONDON “I don’t know his background but I found him to be personable when he introduced himself today. I like that he met his employees, it’s better to know the business from the bottom up. I look forward to seeing how he will run M&S.” GOUTAM DATTA | WEMBLEY “Marc Bolland [...]
M&S sales up for new boss July 7, 2010 MARKS and Spencer’s new chief executive Marc Bolland yesterday warned that he was “very cautious” about the economic environment in the UK. Presenting M&S’s third consecutive quarter of sales rises, he said: “We know that consumers were concerned to see the measure of VAT being taken to 20 per cent but we will not see [...]
Marks and Spencer July 4, 2010 FITTINGLY for a general retailer, Marks and Spencer’s first quarter results on Wednesday will be something of a mixed bag. Analysts are expecting food sales to be up by around 1.5 per cent, with sales of clothes and general merchandise up by 3.7 per cent. But it’s worth remembering that the comparatives are pretty forgiving: [...]
Marks and Spencer July 4, 2010 FITTINGLY for a general retailer, Marks and Spencer’s first quarter results on Wednesday will be something of a mixed bag. Analysts are expecting food sales to be up by around 1.5 per cent, with sales of clothes and general merchandise up by 3.7 per cent. But it’s worth remembering that the comparatives are pretty forgiving: [...]
Bill of the week November 7, 2010 OFF to chef Michel Roux Jr’s new joint at Parliament Square last week for a seven course feast, enjoyed by two lobbyists entertaining their clients. Our diners tucked into the new head chef Toby Stuart’s tasting menu, ending with a pungent array of cheeses, and conducted their political business over a number of bottles of [...]
New appointments at HSBC November 26, 2010 HSBC’s chief executive-designate, Stuart Gulliver, announced changes to the bank’s top management and structure today. The changes are the first indication of his planned strategic direction before he formally steps into the chief executive role in January. Paul Thurston, the current UK and Europe chief executive, has been appointed chief executive of a newly created [...]
M&S records £632m profit May 25, 2010 MARKS & SPENCER has recorded a pre-tax profit of £632m for the year to the end of March. The figure represented a 4.6 per cent rise on the year before. M&S chairman Sir Stuart Rose said the results showed the economy was going in the right direction but that “the recession is not over” for [...]
M&S readies for investor anger on pay July 4, 2010 A STRONG set of first-quarter figures from retail bellwether Marks and Spencer this week looks set to be overshadowed by animosity at the firm’s annual shareholder meeting, with investors set to clash with executives over the eternally thorny issue of pay. Sir Stuart Rose will officially hand over the chief executive’s reins to ex-Morrisons man [...]
Sir Stuart bags £4m from M&S June 10, 2010 OUTGOING Marks & Spencer chairman Sir Stuart Rose earned £4.3m last year, a rise of 47 per cent during a period when the retail giant was forced to cut its dividend by 20 per cent. The executive chairman earned £2.6m, including £1.4m in bonuses and cash allowances. The firm’s annual report said deferred share options [...]