Labour leadership contender Owen Smith wants an inquiry into working practices at Asos August 10, 2016 An urgent inquiry into working practices at online retailer Asos is necessary, Labour leadership contender Owen Smith has said. Smith today called for an inquiry to deal with employment practices at Asos, warning it is "the new Sports Direct". Writing to chair of the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee Ian Wright, Smith asked for consideration [...]
Fashion technology startup Metail raises £10m from Hong Kong’s TAL to become “Google of size and shape” July 9, 2017 A tech startup which offers retailers technology that lets online shoppers try items on virtually, and wants to become the “Google of size and shape”, has bagged millions of pounds in fresh funding from investors. Metail has raised a £10m series B led by TAL, a Hong Kong-based apparel manufacturer, bringing total cash ploughed into [...]
Asos sales jump as customer numbers grow 24 per cent July 12, 2016 Online retailer Asos grew sales by 26 per cent in the four months to 30 June, pushing revenue up to £514.6m for the period. The company's share price was up 4.7 per cent in early trading. Sales in the UK were up 28 per cent, while US sales surged by 45 per cent. Sales in the [...]
Asos won’t be making an Amazon-style move into physical shops July 7, 2016 Asos won't be following in Amazon's footsteps and bringing its brand onto the high-street, intending to focus on mobile sales instead. Speaking to City A.M. about whether the online retailer would ever open physical shops, Asos' chairman Brian McBride said: "It's not on our current plans. Read more: Amazon is opening its first physical bookshop McBride said the idea of [...]
Graphcore lands $30m from top AI experts Demis Hassabis from Deepmind, Uber’s Zoubin Ghahramani and more along with Atomico and others | City A.M. July 20, 2017 Some of the world’s leading experts in artificial intelligence are among fresh investors to plough $30m into a Bristol-based chip startup. Google DeepMind founder Demis Hassabis and Zoubin Ghahramani, Uber’s chief scientist and Cambridge university professor, are among new investors in Graphcore, which makes chips that can process machine learning faster and more efficiently. It [...]
Common mistakes Android app developers make June 15, 2017 Android is an incredibly popular platform, and it is both growing and improving all the time. Android's openness must surely be the reason for its market development and continual innovation. The openness of Android also leaves the platform susceptible to segmentation. Segmentation can be a pitfall even to veteran developers. We want you to avoid [...]
Asos’s share price surges as etailer reveals double-digit profit and sales growth as retailer consolidates return to strength April 12, 2016 Asos' share price surged more than 5.1 per cent this morning, after reporting six month double-digit sales and profit growth. The figures The etailer grew group revenue 21 per cent to £667.3m in the six months to 29 February, with UK retail sales up 25 per cent while international sales grew 18 per cent. Gross profit was up 22 per [...]
Outraged City analysts bash retailers for choosing to report on the same day January 12, 2017 Overloaded City analysts bashed UK retailers this morning for all choosing to publish financial updates on the same day. Today has been branded "Super Thursday" because so many retailers are publishing their Christmas figures. Financial reports have come from Marks and Spencer, Tesco, AO World, Debenhams, Asos and Primark-owner Associated British Foods, to name just a few. [...]
Tour de France extends partnership with Human Race October 9, 2016 Britain may have rejected hosting next year's Tour de France but that hasn't stopped the owners of the French race snapping up one of Britain's largest organisers of mass participation cycling races. The Amaury Sports Organisation (ASO) has paid millions of pounds for Surrey-based events company Human Race according sources close to the deal. The news [...]
These are the key trends in retail in 2017 – and who will benefit from them January 16, 2017 The Christmas reporting season isn't over yet – the market is awaiting updates from Dixons Carphone and WH Smith – but the figures that have been reported so far have indicated some of the key retail trends investors should watch out for this year. Read more: Brexit vote boosts Hugo Boss The outlook for the UK consumer [...]