The Sultan of Brunei has made the country’s first investment in a UK listed company, ploughing £20m into Graze backer Draper Esprit June 5, 2018 The Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, has made the country's first investment in a UK listed company, writing a £20m cheque through the sovereign wealth fund Brunei Investment Agency (BIA) for venture capital firm Draper Esprit. Draper, which has backed businesses including snack box delivery firm Graze and digital bank Revolut, announced last week that [...]
M&S could cease to exist without radical change, warns chairman July 10, 2018 Marks & Spencer’s management confessed existential dread to shareholders today, as its new chairman warned the retailer could disappear within years if the business is not overhauled. Speaking at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM), chairman Archie Norman said: “In decades to come, there could be no M&S.” It marked a blunt first appearance for [...]
M&S passes on £1.4bn of its pension liabilities to Aviva and Phoenix May 17, 2018 Nearly £1.4bn of Marks & Spencer’s pension liabilities were today passed to insurers Aviva and Phoenix. It follows a trend of organisations including National Grid, Pearson and Smith Group transferring pensions calculated on worker’s final salaries over to insurers. Read more: Zurich completes deal to cover £2bn of National Grid pension liabilities Around £925m will [...]
M&S cuts ties with Big Six as it partners with Octopus for new energy brand July 18, 2018 Marks & Spencer has today cut its ties with the Big Six energy providers as it announced a new partnership with challenger Octopus Energy. Octopus has been selected to supply energy and services under the M&S brand from September, in a move which the retailer is touting as part of its transformation plan. The company [...]
No confidence: This is how Tory MPs plan to vote in tonight’s crucial contest over Theresa May’s future as Prime Minister December 12, 2018 The number of MPs who have declared themselves either in support of or against the leadership of Prime Minister Theresa May is growing. Here's who has said what so far. A vote of no confidence was triggered this morning, after more than 48 MPs sent in letters to Sir Graham Brady who controls the process. The [...]
Alive and kicking: JD Sports thrives in struggling high street environment September 11, 2018 JD Sports sprinted ahead of its high street rivals as it boosted both profit and revenue margins in its interim results today. The figures The shoe and sportswear retailer posted a 35 per cent year-on-year hike in revenue to £1.85bn for the six months to the end of August while profits before tax stepped up [...]
Up in smoke: Imperial Brands to put breaks on dividend July 8, 2019 British tobacco giant Imperial Brands is set to abandon its ten per cent dividend growth target as it focuses on catching the vaping market. The news came alongside a £200m share buyback, sending the company soaring on the London exchange. Read more: Puffed – Imperial Brands shares drop on vaping slowdown Shares rose 2.74 per [...]
Hedge funds step up bets against retail landlord New River June 30, 2019 Hedge funds are betting against New River as concerns rise that it could be the latest retail landlord hurt by the industry’s struggles. The short position in the company has increased to 7.35 per cent compared to 5.41 per cent on 1 July last year, according to disclosed positions published by Shorttracker. Read more: New [...]
Billboards and out-of-home adverts are more relevant than ever in the digital age November 5, 2018 We all know that the digital age has revolutionised marketing. The spread of the internet into every aspect of our lives and the prevalence of big data means that consumers are now served more ads (both in quantity and in relevance to our actual tastes and interests) than ever before, while marketers have had to [...]
In memoriam: Ian Taylor 1946-2020 January 16, 2021 Ian Taylor, who died in June of last year, ran Vitol for two decades. He was well-liked in the City not just for his business acumen, but for his philanthropy – which, it was revealed last week, continued after his death. Bloomberg reported he left £1m to the Royal Opera House and significantly more than [...]