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 [...]
How Boohoo’s joined the queue of retailers flocking to market February 17, 2014 ONLINE fashion retailer boohoo.com is being groomed for a snap stock market flotation next month, joining the stampede of retail companies marching towards a London market listing this year. Boohoo.com, which is run by Manchester-based co-founders Carol Kane and Mahmud Kamani, is working with its financial broker Zeus Capital on plans for an initial public [...]
Brand Index: What liking Monty Python says about your economic view February 11, 2014 USING the huge amount of data we at YouGov have been collecting for years, we can create detailed profiles of various groups in society. Here, I will paint a picture of two distinct groups in Britain today: those who expect to be better off in the near future and those who – despite the economic [...]
City Moves for 10 February 2014 | Who’s switching jobs February 9, 2014 Deloitte The professional services firm has appointed Rachel Crowley as go to market director in its real estate division. She joined Deloitte’s financial services practice in 2006 and became a director in 2013. Crowley previously held marketing roles at Accenture in Paris and London. Baker Tilly The law firm has hired Peter Vandervelde as head [...]
Bargain Booze owner appoints former Jessops boss as chairman January 6, 2014 CONVIVIALITY Retail, the company behind the off-licence chain Bargain Booze, said yesterday it has appointed the former boss of camera chain Jessops as its new chairman. David Adams, who is currently a non-executive director at Conviviality, will take over at the end of January, replacing Roger Pedder who will retire after eight years in the [...]
Record sales lift Poundland float prospects January 23, 2014 POUNDLAND has boasted record sales over the key Christmas trading period, further paving the way for a potential initial public offering (IPO), expected to take place within the coming months. The bargain chain, which plans to double its UK presence over the next decade, said new shop openings helped sales rise more than 12.4 per [...]
M&S sales lose their shine after poor Christmas January 6, 2014 MARKS & Spencer is set to report poor festive trading this week as heavy discounting activity in the run-up to Christmas failed to spark a late surge in spending. Analysts predict the retailer will report a drop in third quarter general merchandise sales of as much as 1.5 per cent, despite a highly publicised revamp [...]
House of Fraser opens overseas October 24, 2013 House of Fraser announced yesterday that it will this weekend open its first department store outside of Britain in the Middle East. The privately-owned group, which has 61 stores in the UK, said it will launch its first international flagship in the World Trade Centre Mall in Abu Dhabi. The 100,000 square foot store will [...]
Inside Track: Don’t fret: there’s no doubt the deals are on their way January 23, 2014 ONE banker told me the pipeline for new issue deals is as big as he has seen it over the past decade. While another deal-maker says he’s been getting up at 4.30am every morning. And that’s not to watch re-runs of The Wire or Mad Men. It’s the only way to get his work done. [...]
Woodford pair to follow him out of Invesco November 19, 2013 TWO MEMBERS of Neil Woodford’s investment management team have decided to follow the star fund manager out of the door at Invesco Perpetual, increasing concerns the firm will lose key clients, funds and personnel. Invesco Perpetual issued a short statement saying that William Deer and Mitchell Fraser-Jones, UK equities product directors, had both decided to [...]