Ranked: Sports Direct tops poll of UK’s most loathed brands October 23, 2018 House of Fraser owner Sports Direct is the UK’s most loathed brand, according to consumer finance website Money Saving Expert. However, billionaire Mike Ashley's bottom-placed retail giant may have been hurt by a social media campaign against the company, admitted the website, which asked 7,600 readers to rank 52 household name brands. Read more: Mike [...]
Homes outnumber shops on UK high streets June 6, 2019 Residential addresses now outnumber retailers by more than two to one on UK high streets, data published today reveals. Read more: Boots considers more than 200 store closures The percentage of retail business fell two per cent to comprise just 25 per cent of high street addresses between 2012 and 2017, according to the Office [...]
Sales fall again at fashion retailer French Connection as it signals modest return to profit March 12, 2019 Like-for-like sales fell again at French Connection over 2018 despite posting a modest return to profit in what it called a “tough” retail trading environment. Read more: French Connection shares rocket as it looks for a buyer The figures While the struggling retailer saw a return to underlying profit of £0.1m for the year to the end [...]
Mike Ashley calls for online sales tax to revive high street December 3, 2018 Sports Direct billionaire Mike Ashley has urged the government to tax online retailers as he put up a spirited defence of his own retail operation in front of MPs today. In a fiery appearance in front of a parliamentary committee the retail tycoon said “web boys” that make over 20 per cent of their retail [...]
JD Sports eyes strong profits thanks to international expansion January 14, 2019 JD Sports today said it expects full-year profits to hit the higher end of its targets as international growth helped defy tough retail conditions. The sports retailer reported total sales growth of 15 per cent in the 48 weeks to 5 January, with like-for-like sales up five per cent in the same period. Read more: Retail [...]
Mike Ashley could use a lesson in subtlety after Debenhams April 10, 2019 Britain's leading retail maverick Mike Ashley is known for using intemperate language – but in his reaction to the collapse of long-term target Debenhams yesterday, he excelled himself. Ashley issued a statement in which he savaged politicians and regulators for being “as effective as a chocolate teapot”, and called for advisers on the deal to [...]
Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct makes offer for Findel March 4, 2019 Sports Direct tycoon Mike Ashley is looking to continue his retail spending spree after announcing a £139m offer to buy Findel this morning. Sports Direct, which is currently Findel’s largest shareholder, said in a note to the London Stock Exchange that it has offered to purchase the remaining shares in Findel that it does not already [...]
Under-fire Ted Baker issues profit warning as shares plunge February 27, 2019 Ted Baker warned investors of a £10m hit to profits for its full year this morning, blaming a series of unexpected blows to its bottom line. Profit before tax for the year to the end of January is now expected to fall in the region of £63m, sending shares crashing 13 per cent to 1,734p. [...]
Debenhams flags ‘obvious concerns’ over £100m bid to make Mike Ashley CEO March 22, 2019 Debenhams has turned down Sports Direct's offer to buy its Danish business with the condition that Mike Ashley oust current boss Sergio Bucher to become the company's chief executive. Earlier today Sports Direct made a £100m offer for Magasin du Nord and claimed it would help the company's liquidity, while also giving Debenhams the freedom to buy it [...]
Sainsbury’s slips behind supermarket rivals after Asda merger blocked April 30, 2019 Sainsbury's sales fell behind those of rivals in the three months to the end of April, according to data released just a week after the supermarket's £7.3bn Asda merger was blocked. Sainsbury’s suffered a 1.2 per cent fall in sales compared to the same period last year, data group Kantar's statistics showed, while Aldi and Lidl [...]