Sales rise fails to stop loss widening at Wilkinson Sword September 10, 2024 A rise in turnover at Wilkinson Sword failed to stop its pre-tax loss widening during its latest financial year, according to newly-filed documents. The company, whose brands also include Playtex, Hawaiian Tropic and skincare label Bulldog, has reported a turnover of £132.4m for the year to 30 September, 2023, up from £116.9m in the prior [...]
JD Sports puts almost 200 jobs at risk as it moves to close major distribution centre September 10, 2024 Almost 200 jobs have been put at risk of redundancy after JD Sports confirmed plans to close one of its major distribution centres. The Greater Manchester-headquartered group, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, is to shutter its location at Derby Commercial Park. The move comes after JD Sports penned a 20-year lease on [...]
House of Fraser: Profit doubles at Mike Ashley’s department store chain amid store closures September 10, 2024 House of Fraser more than doubled its pre-tax profit despite a fall in revenue after closing stores across the country, it has been revealed. The performance of the department store chain, which is owned by Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group, has been outlined in accounts filed with Companies House more than seven months after the deadline. [...]
Capital & Regional: Praxis out of the running to buy shopping centre giant September 10, 2024 Shares in Capital & Regional have fallen by 14 per cent after a prospective bidder for the UK shopping centre owner said it was bowing out of the process. Praxis, a London-based property investor, said it doesn’t intend to make an offer for the listed company – which owns shopping malls in Edinburgh, Hemel Hempstead [...]
Bloom & Wild hires first finance chief from Purplebricks as it targets return to profit September 10, 2024 Online flower delivery company Bloom & Wild has appointed a top boss at Purplebricks at its first-ever chief financial officer. Dominique Highfield has been hired by the London-based group from her position as chief operating officer at the online estate agency. Highfield has been at Purplebricks for almost two years, first joining in November 2022 [...]
Top hire for British luxury watch brand Christopher Ward September 9, 2024 Luxury watch brand Christopher Ward has appointed an advertising and marketing veteran as its new chief operating officer. Sarah Baumann will join the Maidenhead-headquartered brand on 23 September, having most recently been managing director of social media and influencer agency, The Wild by Jungle from February 2023 to March this year. Prior to that, she [...]
Asda: Huge equal pay court case starts amid demonstrations September 9, 2024 A court case over equal pay involving more than 60,000 Asda workers has started amid demonstrations being staged in Brighton and Manchester. The GMB union, which has said the case is the biggest ever in the private sector, is arguing that the predominantly female retail workforce is paid up to £3.74 an hour less than [...]
Halfords: Shareholders voice displeasure in political donations vote September 9, 2024 Shareholders in Halfords have voiced their displeasure in a vote to authorise the retailer to make political donations. More than one in ten voted against the proposal at the Redditch-headquartered group’s annual general meeting, according to a document filed with the London Stock Exchange. The 11.91 per cent in the against column comes after 4.01 [...]
Heinz: Price increases help sales near £1bn as inflation battle continues September 9, 2024 Sales at the UK arm of Heinz jumped towards £1bn in 2023 despite volumes decreasing after raising its prices to combat inflation in its costs, new figures have revealed. The London-headquartered division of the US giant has reported a revenue of £967.1m for the 12 months, up from the £899.7m it achieved in 2022, according [...]
Aldi hails record sales as profit surges by almost £400m but loses market share September 9, 2024 Aldi has lost market share despite achieving record sales during its latest financial year as its profit surged by almost £400m, new figures have revealed. The Warwickshire-headquartered UK arm of the German supermarket giant lost 0.2 per cent to report a market share of 10 per cent in 2023. That’s despite Aldi posting record sales [...]