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 [...]
Tesco UK boss Charles Wilson steps down as chief executive after cancer treatment July 10, 2018 Tesco has announced its UK boss Charles Wilson will step down from his role as chief executive following treatment for cancer. He will remain on the executive committee. Shares slipped 1.6 per cent in early trading on the news. Jason Tarry, currently group chief product officer, will now become chief executive of the supermarket giant's [...]
Poundland founder in talks to salvage Poundworld July 9, 2018 Poundland founder Steve Smith is in talks with Deloitte over a bid for rival Poundworld, as the chain's own founder confirms he is out of the running. Smith, who sold Poundland to Advent International in 2002, is in the early stages of talks with administrators Deloitte about a possible rescue deal. Poundworld founder Chris Edwards [...]
Another London craft brewer sold as Lion gobbles up Fourpure July 9, 2018 London craft brewer Fourpure has been bought out by Australian beer giant Lion for an undisclosed sum. The Aussie company has taken full ownership of the Bermondsey-based brewery, but both founders have said they will remain involved with the business. Brothers Dan and Tom Lowe started the business in 2013. It has since expanded, earlier [...]