Gourmet Burger Kitchen latest restaurant chain to hire restructuring experts September 2, 2018 Gourmet Burger Kitchen has hired restructuring advisers as it falls prey to a slump in high street dining. The Famous Brands-owned restaurant chain, which has more than 100 sites, has recruited Deloitte in a bid to secure rent reductions and cut deals with landlords. A company voluntary arrangement (CVA), a procedure that allows companies in [...]
Tickets purchased through Viagogo rendered invalid at festival September 1, 2018 Ticket reselling platform Viagogo has hit a further hurdle after a music festival banned tickets sold through the website. The latest blow comes the day after the Competition and Markets Authority launched legal action against the site after it failed to make required changes. Read more: The competition watchdog is taking Viagogo to court Tickets purchased [...]
Mike Ashley will be absent from this year’s Sports Direct AGM August 31, 2018 Mike Ashley will not face investors at this year’s Sports Direct AGM, due to “overriding demands on his time”. Chairman Keith Hellawell will chair the meeting on 12 September as planned, but the company’s founder and chief executive will be absent, Sports Direct said in an announcement this afternoon. Mike Ashley’s acquisition of House of Fraser at the [...]
Creditors approve plan to close 42 Homebase stores August 31, 2018 Creditors have thrown DIY store Homebase a lifeline and approved the closure of 42 stores and rent cuts on several others. At a meeting held today in London, creditors passed the proposals with 95.9 per cent voting in favour. Damian McGloughlin, chief executive of Homebase, said: “We are pleased that an overwhelming majority of our creditors, [...]
Costa sold to Coca-Cola: Here’s how the City reacted August 31, 2018 Coca-Cola is buying Britain's biggest coffee chain Costa in a deal valued at a whopping £4bn. Following this morning's surprise announcement, City analysts were quick to react. The high price paid, the opportunities for expansion, and the future of Whitbread all came under the microscope. Here's a few of the talking points. A coffee battle [...]
Coca-Cola scoops up Costa August 31, 2018 | City Talk For some time Whitbread CEO Allison Brittain has swatted aside speculation that the company should divest itself of its Costa coffee business saying that it didn’t make sense to do so in the middle of a restructuring program. In April she bowed to investor pressure but said that the process could take up to two [...]
Coco Cola scoops up Costa August 31, 2018 | City Talk For some time Whitbread CEO Allison Brittain has swatted aside speculation that the company should divest itself of its Costa Coffee business saying that it didn’t make sense to do so in the middle of a restructuring program. In April she bowed to investor pressure but said that the process could take up to two [...]
Red tape for Red Bull: The ban-happy nanny state is coming for energy drinks August 31, 2018 I don’t remember the last time I saw a six-year-old queuing for a cappuccino in Pret. Nor have I ever noticed one standing in line, with their own cash, paying for their fizzy drink of choice over the counter at corner shop. That’s because realistically these instances cannot happen without the assistance of an adult, who [...]
Sales down again for Frankie & Benny’s owner The Restaurant Group but share price rises August 31, 2018 Frankie & Benny's owner The Restaurant Group reported another slip in sales this morning, as this year's changeable weather deterred punters from eating out. But shares in the company were up 3.8 per cent in early trading as it flagged improved trading since the end of the first half of the year. The figures Like-for-like [...]
Caffeine high: Coca-Cola to buy Costa from Whitbread in £4bn transaction August 31, 2018 Coca-Cola is set to buy high street coffee chain Costa for £3.9bn. The fizzy drink giant wants to add coffee to its drink line up, and has moved for Costa following owner Whitbread’s announcement earlier this year that it intends to spin the hot drink business off. Whitbread, which bought the chain for just £19m [...]