Fat Face moves closer to stock market debut January 20, 2014 Clothes shop Fat Face is ratcheting up its plans to seek a listing on the London Stock Exchange, and has brought in a slew of bankers to advise on a possible flotation. Bridgepoint, the private equity group that owns Fat Face, hired financial advisory group Lazard in December to assess options. And after strong Christmas [...]
Topps Tiles’ fortunes follow housing market January 7, 2014 Topps Tiles, the UK's largest tile and wood floorings specialist, saw a 9.3 per cent jump in like-for-like revenues over the run up to Christmas – in the 13 weeks ending 28 December. For a company that helps people refurbish their homes, how well Topps does is closely linked to the housing market (people do [...]
What you need to know before the open February 24, 2014 European markets are expected marginally lower this morning, following Asian counterparts, which were left unsatisfied by the G20’s commitment of an extra $2 trillion in output over the next five years. The UK market posted its third successive gain last week, but things in the rest of Europe and the US weren’t as positive, following [...]
A two-speed high street January 9, 2014 A CLEAR split between Britain’s winners and losers in the battle for consumers’ cash this Christmas emerged yesterday, as three of the biggest retail chains revealed worse-than-expected trading. Poor results from Tesco, Morrisons and Marks & Spencer added to dreary updates from Sainsbury’s and Mothercare, with heavy discounting, weak consumer spending and the rising discount [...]
Letters to the Editor – 18/02 – Scotland relations, Stamp duty, Best of Twitter February 17, 2014 Scotland relations [Osborne’s claims that Scotland couldn’t use the pound don’t stack up, Thursday] Ruling out a currency zone after Scottish independence carries risks for both sides. The rest of the UK will unilaterally erect customs posts and force people to change money when they cross the border. This would damage trade and the free movement [...]
City Moves for 22 January 2014 | Who’s switching jobs January 21, 2014 Sidley Austin The law firm has announced the appointment of James Oussedik as counsel and senior member of its investment funds practice. Oussedik was most recently at Simmons & Simmons, where he was a managing associate. Partnership Giles Offen has joined the insurance company as chief technology officer. He was formerly at Advanced Payment Solutions, where [...]
Bottom Line: From wardrobe staple to the bargain bin January 6, 2014 AS WE wait for the Marks and Spencer Christmas trading figures later this week, expectations are that its fashion sales won’t show much sign of festive cheer. If so, it needs to start the new year with a long, hard look in the mirror. It is true that general conditions won’t have helped: figures from [...]
Bovis boss hails strongest order book in years January 16, 2014 BOVIS Homes said its order book was at its strongest state in many years and that it was seeing robust demand for its homes in the early weeks of 2014, as buyers backed by the government helped boost the housing market. In a trading update yesterday, issued ahead of its full year results, the housebuilder [...]
House of Fraser in online drive December 10, 2013 HOUSE of Fraser has said its fast-growing online business and the launch of new technology in stores helped drive sales in the third quarter. Like-for-like sales edged up 0.8 per cent, taking like-for-like sales in the year to date up 2.5 per cent. Meanwhile online sales were up by 31 per cent. The retailer has [...]
A recovery built on bricks and mortar January 12, 2014 Bovis chief executive David Ritchie tells Elizabeth Fournier why he’s not concerned about a new UK housing bubble THE LAST 12 months have been good ones for Britain’s housebuilders. After a financial crisis that saw billions wiped off the sector as credit dried up and house prices crashed, 2013 saw a return to form as [...]