Young’s pubs boss Patrick Dardis: “Smithfields is the new Covent Garden” November 16, 2017 Pub company Young’s has announced a deal to buy City favourite Smith’s of Smithfield and its sister site on Cannon Street. The acquisition was confirmed as the group reported a market-beating rise in sales across its pubs. The figures Revenue across managed pubs, which accounts for the biggest chunk of the business, was up 4.6 [...]
Nisa members have voted in favour of Co-op’s takover offer November 13, 2017 Members of convenience chain Nisa have voted to accept The Co-operative's £140m offer for the business. The offer just scraped in over the minimum 75 per cent approval rate, with 75.79 per cent in favour and 24.21 per cent voting against the Co-op’s offer. The Co-op will now acquire the business for a total of [...]
The Foschini Group buys fashion brand Hobbs as 3i exits November 7, 2017 Hobbs, the British high street fashion retailer known for being a favourite of the Duchess of Cambridge, has found a new owner in the form of South African retailer The Foschini Group (TFG). Hobbs chief executive Meg Lustman said this would help the brand to become "truly successful". "With TFG’s existing experience managing desirable brands, [...]
HMV overtakes Amazon in fight for dwindling DVD and Blu-ray sales October 30, 2017 The decline of DVDs and Blu-rays has allowed HMV to overtake Amazon to be the biggest seller of physical films in the country. HMV has fared well with new releases such as Beauty and the Beast and Logan to take its market share of physical video sales up six points to 22.5 per cent. Amazon’s [...]
Suits you: Supermarket fashion is turning heads in the UK October 24, 2017 Cheap? Check. Convenience? Check. Choice? Check. Sainsbury’s launched a rival to Savile Row in outlets this week, giving shoppers a chance to buy suits with their weekly shop. The move is a classic example of how wafer-thin margins and the dog fight for market share is forcing supermarkets to turn towards different revenue streams – [...]
Sales rise but market share falls for Big Four grocers as Aldi and Lidl continue to grow October 17, 2017 Each of the big four grocers has grown sales but seen a decrease in market share as Aldi and Lidl can now boast half the total market’s growth, new figures show. Morrisons was the fastest growing of the large retailers, with sales up 2.8 per cent in the 12 weeks to 8 October, followed by [...]
Graze’s private equity owners ready to chomp down on £300m sale October 15, 2017 The owners of healthy snack box delivery company Graze are preparing to get their teeth into a £300m sale, according to reports. Private equity firm Carlyle, which bought a majority stake in the business for a rumoured £50m in 2013, has appointed boutique investment bank Harris Williams to run the sale according to the Sunday [...]
Poundworld founder Chris Edwards to head up rival Poundstretcher October 15, 2017 Struggling bargain retailer Poundstretcher is set to be taken over by the founder of one of its main competitors, Poundworld. Chris Edwards, who founded Poundworld in 1974, is in line to become chief executive of Poundstretcher, the Sunday Times reported yesterday. Poundworld sold a majority stake to American private equity firm TPG in 2015 for [...]
Just Eat’s Hungryhouse takeover is nearly good to go as competition watchdog gives provisional clearance October 12, 2017 The competition watchdog has provisionally paved the way for Just Eat to gobble up Hungryhouse, saying the merger does not raise concerns. Shares in Just Eat rose nearly five per cent in morning trading as investors chewed over the good news. Just Eat paid £200m for Hungryhouse, which it bought from Delivery Hero, back in [...]
Designer homeware site Made.com turned a profit in the UK for the first time last year October 4, 2017 Design business Made.com generated a profit in the UK for the first time last year. The figures In results for 2016 released today, the trendy homeware business revealed that its sales grew by 48 per cent. In the UK, revenue was up 38 per cent, helping the business to turn its first profit in the [...]