London: West End and Knightsbridge urge Hunt to relax Sunday trading laws to bring in £350m extra March 13, 2023 The West End and Knightsbridge have urged the chancellor to relax Sunday trading restrictions and help them rake in an estimated £350m a year. The duo have submitted a joint proposal to Jeremy Hunt ahead of this week’s budget, urging the government to relax Sunday trading laws within the popular London districts in an effort [...]
Not so thirsty Thursday as Nightcap blames ‘targeted’ rail strikes for £1.2m earnings loss March 13, 2023 Cocktail bar operator Nightcap has estimated that 13 days of rail strikes over the last year has cost the company £1.2m. The bar company, which operates a number of venues across Clapham and central London, claimed rail strikers “deliberate targeting” of Thursdays and Saturdays, the most lucrative trading days for the hospitality sector, caused a [...]
TRG: Wagamama owner admits dining out will ‘never recover’ from Covid – but chains will not disappear from High Street March 13, 2023 The chief executive of Wagamama‘s owner The Restaurant Group (TRG) has claimed that dining out will never be as popular as it was pre-pandemic – but reassured chains will not disappear from the British high street altogether. “I don’t think the [casual dining] industry will never be quite as big as it was,” Andy Hornby, [...]
Alcopops out, frozen berries in: How Brits’ shopping habits are changing the inflation basket March 13, 2023 Brits are swapping alcopops for frozen fruit as the nation looks to favour more healthy and environmental options in 2023, statistics from the ONS’ inflation basket can reveal. The tool which measures consumer spending patterns has also shown that non-chart CDs, and digital compact cameras have disappeared from UK shopping lists in the past year, [...]
DS Smith share price drops as box maker notes ‘market weakness’ March 9, 2023 Box maker DS Smith has said it is continuing to trade in line with profit expectations despite seeing lower corrugated box volumes. The London-based group, which supplies packaging and paper products to the likes of Amazon and Brewdog, said that volume sales were lower in the third quarter due to “market weakness”, with businesses de-stocking [...]
Tesco on hunt for a ‘heavyweight’ boardroom figure as it swoops to replace John Allan March 9, 2023 Tesco is understood to have approached a number of “heavyweight” boardroom figures, to scope out their interests in replacing outspoken chairman John Allan. According to reports in Sky News, the FTSE 100 supermarket is working with headhunters to find a replacement for the leader who is set to leave the grocer in 2024. Allan, has [...]
Ladbrokes and Coral owner Entain braces itself for regulation and take over speculation despite World Cup profit boost March 9, 2023 Ladbrokes and Coral owner Entain has forecast regulatory headwinds as it revealed a 13 per cent rise in profits driven by punters betting during the Qatar World Cup. Entain posted profits of £993.2m up 13 per cent from £881.7m in the same period last year. As the group continues its expansion in the US market [...]
Not easy without Yeezy: Adidas share price slumps as Kanye West split hurts profits March 8, 2023 Investors have pulled away from Adidas after the sneaker giant is predicting to make a €700m (£623m) loss for the year, as its deals with the fallout from dropping Kanye West’s lucrative deal. Shares in the company fell 2.48 per cent on Wednesday morning after Adidas revealed in its final year results that it had [...]
Wagamama owner TRG to close 35 locations as cost of living crisis digs into profits March 8, 2023 The Wagamama owner said that it will shutter some 35 “loss making” locations taking its portfolio from 166 restaurants down to 75-85 due to a “tough macro-environment,” which has deterred customers from eating out.
Co-op welcomes former N Brown finance chief as new group CFO March 7, 2023 The Co-operative group has welcomed Rachel Izzard as chief financial officer and a member of the Co-op group board. The supermarket and funeral care provider said that Izzard will take up the position in June following the end of current interim Mike Hazell’s contract. The financial veteran has held a number of CFO positions, including [...]