High street stalwart Boots mulls more than 200 possible store closures May 28, 2019 Boots, Britain’s largest chain of chemists, looks set to become the latest victim of high street turmoil as its US owner eyes several hundred store closures. Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), the pharmacy retailer's US parent, is reportedly looking at bringing down the shutters on more than 200 Boots outlets across the UK over the next [...]
BP drills closer to home than Tesco for new CEO October 4, 2019 If the benchmark for CEO succession planning is to have a slate of credible internal candidates ready to take the helm when a veteran boss retires, this week’s news suggests that BP deserves plaudits and Tesco brickbats. In reality, the situation at the two companies is more nuanced, but both the impending departures of Bob [...]
Tesco CEO: Analysts react to Dave Lewis’ shock departure October 2, 2019 Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis this morning made the shock announcement that he is preparing to step down, saying the supermarket giant’s turnaround is complete. Lewis cited personal reasons for his decision and declared that five to six years is an appropriate tenure for a chief executive. Read more: Tesco CEO Dave Lewis quits Boots [...]
Boots blames ‘weak’ retail conditions for fall in UK sales December 20, 2018 Boots has recorded a fall in sales in the first quarter as it becomes the latest UK retailer to be hit by tough high street conditions. The pharmacy and health chain's US owner, Walgreens Boots Alliance, said comparable pharmacy and retail sales fell 3.5 per cent and 2.6 per cent respectively. It said the company’s [...]
Boots’ UK stores drag on Walgreen Boots Alliance’s international sales January 4, 2018 Boots' UK stores acted as a drag on the international sales of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the first quarter, the pharmaceutical giant said today. Internationally, the retail pharmacy arm of Walgreens Boots Alliance brought in sales of $3.1bn (£2.3bn), an increase of 4.1 per cent year-on-year. On a constant currency basis, sales fell 0.8 per [...]
Christmas adverts 2019: Watch retailers from Argos to M&S and Amazon launch their festive ad campaigns November 8, 2019 We might only be a week into November but some of UK’s biggest retailers have already launched their 2019 Christmas advert campaigns, as firms race to make the most of the crucial festive trading period after a challenging year for the high street. In what has become a festive tradition, retailers have pulled out all [...]
Boots revenue falls as beauty faces ‘a challenging year’ October 12, 2018 The parent company of Boots has blamed a drop in UK pharmacy funding for its lacklustre final quarterly results, after sales at the health and beauty specialist dropped amid retail's difficult trading environment. Walgreens Boots Alliance said fourth quarter sales in its international retail pharmacy division, which houses Boots UK, fell 1.9 per cent from [...]
Oracle founder Larry Ellison reveals billion-dollar stake in Tesla January 8, 2019 The founder of software giant Oracle has disclosed a stake in the US' most shorted public company Tesla, worth approximately $1bn (£784.1m). The news, published in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), comes after Larry Ellison joined Tesla's board in December. Ellison is a long-time friend of Musk, and is currently [...]
Theranos documentary to contain footage from deposition tapes of founder Elizabeth Holmes, says ABC January 16, 2019 A TV documentary telling the story of the high-profile demise of blood testing company Theranos will include never-before-seen footage from the deposition tapes of founder Elizabeth Holmes. The high tech blood testing firm was forced to formally dissolve and hand over its remaining cash to creditors in September after years of legal challenges left the [...]
There’s a human cost to fetishising entrepreneurs like Elizabeth Holmes March 28, 2019 According to the documentary director Alex Gibney, the success of Elizabeth Holmes can be put down to Silicon Valley’s “fetishisation of the entrepreneur”. Holmes’ story is depicted in his latest film, The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley, released last week. But her story has caught the imagination of just about everyone who has [...]