Sainsbury’s hires former Boots boss as retail and operations director September 30, 2016 Supermarket Sainsbury's has hired a veteran of the UK retail sector as its new retail and operations director. The company has appointed former Boots managing director Simon Roberts to the role. Roberts was most recently executive vice president of pharmaceutical retailer Walgreens Boots Alliance and president of Boots in the UK & Ireland. Prior to that, [...]
Tesco share price falls despite sales rise in third trading quarter as investors focus on weaker Christmas trading January 12, 2017 Tesco's share price fell despite the supermarket giant reporting its first quarterly market share growth since 2011, as sales grew for the eighth quarter in a row. The figures Group like-for-like sales grew 1.5 per cent in its third trading quarter, with UK like-for-like sales growing even faster, at 1.8 per cent. The supermarket said it [...]
Sterling and FTSE 100 jump as inflation hits two-year high October 18, 2016 Sterling recovered some poise today, soaring higher after inflation jumped to a two-year high. The FTSE 100 also jumped back above 7,000 in early morning trading, fading only slightly to end the day up 0.7 per cent at 6,994 as traders and investors digested the news that prices rose by one per cent in the year to [...]
The fashion industry is on its steepest decline for seven years October 17, 2016 The fashion market is on its steepest decline for seven years, according to new data, with £700m wiped off the value of the UK market since last year. According to figures from Kantar Worldpanel, sales declined for the fourth month in a row in September as retailers continued to offer huge discounts to consumers. Kantar [...]
Founders not scroungers: There’s a business case for welcoming refugees February 16, 2017 As the legal battle rages on around Donald Trump’s chaotic travel ban and moratorium on refugees, you could be forgiven for thinking that the West faces an existential threat unparalleled in its history. Yet as politicians rush to placate and at times inflate public fears about the negative impact of refugees on jobs, public services [...]
Marks & Spencer’s share price climbs as retailer increases dividend despite clothing sales declining again November 4, 2015 Struggling high street giant Marks & Spencer has recorded yet another period of declines in its general merchandise division – but has handed shareholders an incentive to stick with it in the form of a dividend hike. The figures Top line figures suggest there is a slight improvement in performance, with group sales up 1.4 [...]
Marks & Spencer to close 12 stores in five Eastern European countries October 11, 2015 Marks & Spencer (M&S) is pulling out of five countries in eastern Europe, driven in part by heightened tensions between the West and Russia. The company is leaving Croatia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia, with store closures set to begin in January. The group plans to close 12 stores in total by May 2016. The [...]
The UK’s 12 most shorted stocks revealed: Carillion tops the list, with several household names filling in the ranks July 25, 2017 It's not a list which many corporates would be happy to top, but Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management has today released a ranking of the 12 most shorted stocks in the UK. Construction company Carillion topped the list, with 27.2 per cent of its equity having been shorted. High street names such as Debenhams, Marks and [...]
Marks & Spencer dividend can’t hide fashion disaster as Next and Primark steal market share November 5, 2015 It's that time of year again. The nights are drawing in, the heating’s turned up, minor celebrities are switching on high street Christmas lights… and Marks & Spencer has revealed another disappointing half-year performance. Admittedly, shares rose yesterday – up 2.8 per cent – but this was more due to a modest improvement to margins and a [...]
Marks & Spencer website leaks customer details – but retailer insists it’s a “technical issue”, not a hacking October 28, 2015 Marks & Spencer was forced to suspend its website last night for two hours after it emerged that customers could see other people's details when they were logged in. Customers were able to see order histories, personal addresses and a number of other details belonging to other account holders when they logged in to register [...]