Former Tesco commercial director Kevin Grace sues for unfair dismissal after 2014 accounting scandal November 12, 2017 Tesco is facing further fallout from its 2014 accounting scandal as a former director claims he was wrongly dismissed. Kevin Grace, the former commercial director, was removed from his job after it emerged that Tesco had overstated profit expectations. Grace maintains he was not responsible for the problem and last year the Serious Fraud Office [...]
Moneysupermarket.com reports 20 per cent revenue growth as it confirms Mark Lewis will replace Peter Plumb as boss January 19, 2017 Moneysupermarket.com said today that its expects to report revenue growth of 12 per cent when it announces its full year results on 28 February – and it has confirmed that Mark Lewis will replace Peter Plumb as chief executive. The figures The group said Moneysupermarket.com's revenue grew 19 per cent year-on-year in the three months [...]
The Waitrose Christmas advert is here: Move over Buster, there’s a plucky little Robin giving you all the feels November 13, 2016 The bouncing boxer dog of the John Lewis Christmas advert has a rival: a tiny Robin braving wild weather and perilous predators to return to a young girl's festive home. The Waitrose Christmas advert has been revealed, and while never quite matching up to the much-hyped John Lewis one before, this year that might just change with its [...]
The mattress startup battle’s heating up in the UK as Simba gets in bed with top City investors February 13, 2017 The battle to bring you the best night's sleep is heating up as one of several mattress startups spearheading innovation, in an industry apparently ripe for disruption, has landed new funding. Simba Sleep has tempted several top City investors into bed in a fresh £9m funding round, bringing total investment in the one-year-old startup to £17.5m. Henderson [...]
Moss Bros focuses on online sales and improving margins January 12, 2017 Menswear retailer Moss Bros scored a healthy sales growth in the second half of 2016 as it focussed on improving its margins and its online offering. In the 23 weeks from 31 July to 7 January, Moss Bros' like-for-like sales grew 6.1 per cent on the year before, with online sales jumping 24.9 per cent. [...]
Trouble in store: More pain on the way for UK retail April 10, 2017 A triple-blow of tax hikes, rising costs and a squeeze on consumer spending is threatening to wipe out thousands of British retailers, with a string of familiar high street names expected to fall into administration this year. Nearly 23,000 retailers were under significant financial stress at the end of the first quarter according to insolvency [...]
British Business Bank steps up funding to small businesses with £30m committed to asset-backed lending December 4, 2017 British Business Investments (BBI), the commercial arm of the state-owned British Business Bank (BBB), has committed £30m to asset-backed lending in an effort to shore up small business funding as Brexit approaches. The new funding will be provided through Independent Growth Finance (IGF), a firm which makes loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) secured [...]
City Moves for 25 October 2016 | Who’s switching jobs October 25, 2016 Travelodge Hotel chain Travelodge has appointed Hannah Thomson to the position of people director. She will take up her new role from 1 November. Hannah will report directly to the chief executive Peter Gowers and joins the Travelodge operating board. Hannah began her career with the John Lewis Partnership businesses, John Lewis and Waitrose, where she held a range of roles in [...]
The Battle for Virality: How the advertising industry stole Christmas November 14, 2016 Consumer capitalism is like an annual balloon, pumping in steady increments throughout the year. It grows and grows, stretching and straining around November, taut before the Black Friday Pin; the pressure too much, one prick and the balloon explodes in a relentless cloud of Christmas advertising. But where has this volley come from? We can’t even [...]
Solid John Lewis Christmas trading not enough to nudge profit expectations up January 6, 2016 The John Lewis Partnership has reported a solid Christmas period, with sales across the group up 4.1 per cent for the six weeks to 2 January to £1.81bn – but it's not enough to shift the group's full year decline in profits. The figures The department store business was the strongest driver of growth, with sales up [...]