M&S to close dozens of stores November 4, 2016 Marks & Spencer will be closing dozens of UK stores and will cut its clothing offer in others, it's been claimed. Following reports from Bloomberg that M&S will be closing its Paris store and shops in China, Sky News has said that M&S boss Steve Rowe will announce UK store closures next week. It is expected that [...]
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 [...]
Stocking up on Christmas booze? Marks & Spencer is the best supermarket for wine – while Morrisons comes second December 1, 2015 Marks & Spencer has retained its crown as the best supermarket wine retailer for the second year running – but if you're stocking up on Christmas booze, you could do a lot worse than head to Morrisons, which came second in the medal table at this year's International Wine Challenge (IWC). M&S came first in [...]
Next warns year ahead will be worst since 2008 despite posting rise in full-year revenues and profits March 24, 2016 Next has warned the year ahead could be the most challenging since the recession, as it reported rises in both full-year revenues and profits today. The figures Next reported a five per cent increase in underlying profit before tax, totalling £821.3m from £782.2m last year. Operating profit rose by almost the same level, 4.9 per cent, to £851.8m [...]
Bupa snaps up dentistry group Oasis for £835m from private equity house Bridgepoint November 18, 2016 Private healthcare group Bupa has announced an £835m takeover of dentistry chain Oasis from a private equity group. Bupa, advised by Barclays bankers, was said to be in competition with other private equity groups for the acquisition of Oasis, which was owned by Bridgepoint. The private equity house, advised on this deal by Moelis and [...]
Editor’s notes: Carney can see what EU officials refuse to: that they need the City January 13, 2017 Mark Carney isn’t the kind of man to lose his temper in public. Perhaps he isn’t even the kind of man to lose his temper at all. Still, if he was ever to come close to doing so it may well have been at this week’s Treasury Select Committee hearing, where he once again came up [...]
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, [...]
Black Friday UK 2016: Fashion deals available today November 25, 2016 Black Friday is upon us so it's probably time to completely overhaul your wardrobe – here's a roundup of the best deals among high street and designer brands. Asos has a massive 20 per cent off all clothing if you use the code GOGOGO – the sale is running over the weekend. High street favourite [...]
M&S is braced for tumbling profits with boss Steve Rowe set to announce raft of store closures November 6, 2016 Marks & Spencer is braced to unveil tumbling profits in its interim results on Tuesday. Profit before tax is expected to have dropped by over 20 per cent to £216m according to analyst consensus, showing the scale of the challenge chief executive Steve Rowe faces. Clothing and home sales, which are measured at stores open for [...]
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 [...]