Fewer visitors flock to the high street in October but vacancy rates fall to four-year low November 16, 2015 Fewer shoppers visited the high street in October and flocked to retail parks instead, according to the latest industry figures. High street footfall fell by one per cent year-on-year compared with a 0.6 per cent decline in September the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Springboard revealed today. In contrast, footfall at retail parks increased 2.6 [...]
Black Friday 2015: A third of British and American retailers say the sales bonanza is unprofitable November 16, 2015 Britain's biggest online shopping fixture Black Friday is dividing the retail industry, with a third of major retailers saying it is unprofitable while the same number believe it provides a major fillip, research by LCP Consulting shows. The business consultancy firm’s annual Omnichannel report released today found that retailers with an established presence both in bricks [...]
Sports Direct in talks to open Lillywhites concessions in House of Fraser November 15, 2015 Sports Direct is reported to be in talks with House of Fraser about introducing concessions of its famous Piccadilly store Lillywhites inside the department store chain. Dave Forsey, the chief executive of the sportswear group, has held early stage talks with House of Fraser boss Nigel Oddy, according to The Sunday Telegraph, which reported that proposals [...]
Discounters Aldi and Lidl pick up the space race left by Big Four supermarkets November 15, 2015 The big four supermarkets may have called an end to the space race. But for Aldi and Lidl the race has just begun, after new figures show the discounters have submitted plans for nearly five times as many stores. The latest data from construction data firm ABI Barbour shows that Aldi has submitted 93 planning [...]
US investment giants Starwood Capital and Apollo vie for control of budget hotelier Travelodge November 15, 2015 A battle is heating up for control of Travelodge after two US investment giants emerged as the frontrunners to buy the budget hotel chain, which is expected to fetch as much as £1.5bn. Property investor Starwood Capital and Apollo Global Management, the private equity firm, are said to be battling it out for control of the company, [...]
City Moves for 16 November 2015 | Who’s switching jobs November 15, 2015 COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL The commercial real estate services firm has appointed business rates specialist Jeff Norris as director. He has over 30 years’ experience, and has held roles at Sinclair Goldsmith, Edwin Hill (now Altus), and Farebrother, where he was a partner heading up the rating department, before running his own consultancy. OPEN OCEAN The early [...]
Time limit on financial charges could save ex-HBOS bankers millions November 15, 2015 A long-awaited report into the collapse of HBOS is not expected to bring financial sanctions against any of those involved, due to a six-year time limit on the regulator bringing charges on information received. The delayed report, due Thursday, is set to criticise the management and regulators responsible for the bank’s taxpayer bailout in 2008. HBOS [...]
New doubts for future of Tata Steel’s Scunthorpe plant, as European chief warns the site must be sold by April November 15, 2015 Tata Steel’s European chief executive Karl-Ulrich Kohler has warned that its Scunthorpe steel plant must be sold by April as it has no future as part of the company’s business. The company has been seeking a buyer for the plant as part of a wider sale of its long products business, which manufactures items like [...]
Standard Chartered chief executive Bill Winters buys another £1m in bank’s shares November 15, 2015 Standard Chartered chief executive Bill Winters is putting his money where his mouth is – by buying another £1m worth of his shares in his struggling company. Winters, a former JP Morgan investment banker who took over from the Asia-facing bank's previous chief executive Peter Sands in June, acquired 168,000 shares at 599 pence each, increasing the [...]
At the close: FTSE 100 index suffers worst week since August on mining companies November 13, 2015 The FTSE 100 endured its worst week since August, closing 1.03 per cent down on Friday at 6,115 points, dragged down today by G4S and Rolls-Royce. The UK's top blue-chip index closed at its lowest point since 2 October, six weeks ago. Rolls-Royce continued on from sharp falls yesterday, dropping 4.19 per cent to 514.5p per share, after falling [...]