Retailers rocked by sales shocker May 6, 2016 The high street has suffered its sharpest drop in sales since the credit crunch as retailers battle erratic weather, increasing competition from online rivals and jittery consumer confidence. Like-for-like sales fell by 6.1 per cent in April compared with the same month last year, according to BDO’s latest monthly tracker, published this morning. The accountancy [...]
House of Fraser posts first profit in a decade April 13, 2016 House of Fraser has posted a return to profit for the first time since 2006, as the venerable department store business goes from strength to strength under its Chinese parent. The figures Sales were up 4.2 per cent to £1.3bn for the year to 30 January, with online sales up 26.8 per cent. They now account [...]
House builders’ reports will be corporate focus – London Report July 5, 2015 THE EMERGENCY Budget on Wednesday will see chancellor George Osborne pressing ahead with major cuts to welfare and government departmental spending. However, economists have said that the Budget is unlikely to bring with it any major change in economic policy. Instead, the main focus of Osborne’s speech on Wednesday will be around the £12bn of [...]
Halfords and N Brown share price drops after UBS downgrade, blaming Brexit, Amazon and currency woes March 21, 2016 Shares in Halfords and N Brown have dropped sharply today after analysts at UBS slashed their ratings for both retailers in a bearish note on the sector. The Swiss bank's research arm, UBS Evidence Lab, has warned of on a whole shopping basket of challenges facing retailers this year, including short-term uncertainty over Brexit, wage inflation, currency and the increasing dominance of Amazon. [...]
EU referendum: Wages would rise in the event of a Brexit, Lord Rose admits during heated exchange with Andrew Tyrie’s Treasury select committee March 3, 2016 He might be campaigning to keep Britain in the European Union, but Lord Rose might have inadvertently scored an own goal when he admitted yesterday that a Brexit would result in higher wages for domestic workers. The former head of Marks & Spencer, who is leading the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign, told MPs yesterday [...]
More boardroom shake-ups at Tesco and Marks & Spencer March 4, 2015 THE BOARDROOM clear out at supermarket giant Tesco continued yesterday, while high street icon M&S announced a new board role for its current chairman. Tesco, the UK’s biggest retailer, said non-executive director Gareth Bullock would retire from the main board today, but remain on the board of Tesco Bank. The company beefed up its board yesterday [...]
Early bloom for Chelsea Flower Show as dress of delphiniums, hyacinths and roses hits London May 11, 2015 The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is always a big event for the City, with ex-Marks and Spencer boss Stuart Rose, new Credit Suisse chief exec Tidjane Thiam and Lord Browne just a few of the business heavyweights who have attended in the past. The 1930s-inspired dress features over 1,200 delphiniums, hyacinths and spray roses [...]
Fruit juices, drinks and smoothies might not be one of your “five a day” according to new sugar study March 24, 2016 Just a few weeks after it was revealed how much sugar was lurking in your Starbucks coffee drinks and a fortnight since George Osborne announced a sugar tax on soft drinks, it seems fruit juice could be another villain too. The authors of a new study have even gone so far as to suggest that [...]
Silvertown Partnership prepares shortlist for funding of Royal Docks £3.5bn scheme March 15, 2016 The developers behind the £3.5bn regeneration of Silvertown Quays in London’s Royal Docks are in talks with several investors about the next stage of funding as work on the first phase of the 62-acre scheme gets underway. The Silvertown Partnership, a consortium of developers made up of Chelsfield Properties, First Base and Macquarie Capital, are currently [...]
Marks & Spencer to enter Beijing as it shuts five Shanghai stores March 2, 2015 Marks & Spencer is poised to open stores in Beijing and Guangzhou – but will reduce its presence in greater Shanghai. Currently M&S has around 15 stores in China, but this will be the first time it has entered the country’s capital city. The high street giant said it had “firm intent” to enter those [...]