Sweet farewell: Nooyi to step down after 12 years as Pepsi boss August 6, 2018 Long-serving PepsiCo boss Indra Nooyi will step down in October after 12 years in the post. Sales have grown 80 per cent under her leadership, making Pepsi one of the most lucrative food and beverage companies in the world. Nooyi, who promoted Pepsi’s campaign to reduce sugar content in its drinks, is one of the small [...]
Greggs flags flat full year profits as it says it’s cautious on consumer outlook July 31, 2018 Greggs has said profits will be flat for 2018 as the baked goods business warned it is cautious about the consumer outlook. But investors were happy with its solid half year update: Greggs' share price was up 5.9 per cent in early trading. The figures Total sales at Greggs rose 5.2 per cent to £476m, [...]
DIY SOS: Travis Perkins warns Wickes profits will be lower as consumers spend less on home improvement July 31, 2018 Wickes parent Travis Perkins warned this morning that the home improvement retailer’s profits will be lower than expected due to a weaker consumer backdrop in the UK’s DIY market. Shares dropped more than eight per cent in early trading. The figures The business, which also has several trade-facing units, reported like-for-like revenue growth of 4.2 [...]
Exclusive: Fashion group halted in bid to fill House of Fraser City branch July 30, 2018 An audacious bid to fill the House of Fraser branch in the City has been stopped in its tracks, after the landlord opted to sit on the property while market conditions remain uncertain. The department store on King William Street is one of the 31 slated to close next year under the chain’s company voluntary [...]
Farewell to Poundworld: Struggling retailer to close every single store and disappear from the high street July 19, 2018 Embattled retailer Poundworld is set to close all of its remaining stores and vanish from the high street entirely as early as next month, according to the firm's administrator. Deloitte has said all of Poundworld's 190 remaining stores will likely close by 10 August, affecting 2,339 staff. The discount goods retailer, which went into administration [...]
Steak restaurant chain Gaucho has filed for administration July 18, 2018 Steak restaurant Gaucho is expected to fall into administration as early as today after rescue talks for the chain failed. The company has filed a notice of intention to appoint an administrator, it confirmed this morning. “Despite an extensive options process which attracted proposals from a number of parties, it is with regret that due [...]
Build-A-Bear Workshop’s ‘pay your age’ promotion backfires July 17, 2018 Last week, children’s toy store Build-A-Bear found itself in the headlines following a promotional campaign that backfired. Stores rolled out a ‘pay your age’ day, in which parents could buy a teddy bear for the price of the age of their child. However, the initiative took a sour turn after keen customers were left standing [...]
Burberry investors give company a slap on the wrist over directors’ remuneration report July 12, 2018 Burberry had its wrists slapped by investors today as a handful voted against its remuneration report at the company's annual meeting. Over 10 per cent of investors voted against the company's annual pay report for its directors for the year ending 31 March 2018. A far higher proportion of shareholders voted against directors' pay last [...]
Sainsbury’s bats away criticism of new chairman Martin Scicluna July 11, 2018 Sainsbury’s yesterday defended its new chairman after he received criticsm from an investor concerned with his involvement in a botched merger when he worked for Lloyds bank. The supermarket yesterday said insurer RSA’s chairman Martin Scicluna would become non-executive chair in March 2019. Scicluna worked for Lloyds Banking Group when it bought struggling HBOS in [...]
Pressure grows on Premier Foods boss as activist investor builds stake July 10, 2018 The pressure on under-fire Premier Foods chief executive officer (CEO) Gavin Darby has increased today after activist investor Oasis Investment upped its stake in the company. Hong Hong-based Oasis has been vocal in its opposition to Darby who it accuses of “shareholder value destruction”. Read more: Paulson triples stake in Premier Foods as AGM showdown [...]