Compass chairman Paul Walsh set to step down this year January 5, 2020 Paul Walsh, the chairman of FTSE 100 catering company Compass, is due to step down within the next twelve months. The firm, which is the world’s largest catering company, will announce the decision on Monday as it prepares to begin the search for Walsh’s successor. Read more: Compass group shares sink as business catering unit [...]
HMV and Debenhams to shut stores as high street makes difficult start to the year January 5, 2020 HMV and Debenhams have confirmed that they will close stores in a challenging start to the year for UK high streets. Music store HMV said that it would shut three stores at the end of January, new new tenants set to take up the leases immediately. Read more: High street sees slight increase in December [...]
UK High Street sees slight increase in December sales January 4, 2020 UK shops saw a marginal increase in December sales year-on-year driven by widespread discounting, a new survey revealed on Saturday. Sales in British shops were up 0.7 per cent for the month compared with 2018, according to the accountancy and business advisory firm BDO’s monthly High Street Sales Tracker. Read more: Next raises forecast after [...]
Next raises forecast after Christmas sales beat expectations January 3, 2020 Clothing retailer Next continued its strong progress as the company beat its internal forecast for its Christmas performance by 1.1 per cent. In a trading statement, the company said that total full price sales for the fourth quarter were up 5.2 per cent, with sales for the full year up 3.9 per cent. Read more: [...]
Greggs releases vegan Steak Bake January 2, 2020 Bakery chain Greggs released its vegan Steak Bake to great fanfare today. The product was released in Newcastle last night, drawing long queues at the official launch. Read more: From Greggs to Franco Manca – Britain’s favourite restaurants revealed The new product is made from dairy-free pastry, meat alternative Quorn, onions and meat-free gravy. The [...]
Survive a Tier 4 January with these 34 amazing lockdown delivery kits January 1, 2020 With more lockdowns annoucned up and down the country, January is set to be a rather miserable time, especially for those of us who are gastronomically-inclined. Thankfully, you can kill two birds with one stone – supporting your favourite chefs and getting your fix of restaurant-quality food – by ordering some of these amazing home [...]
Chilango CVA: investors back burrito bond bailout measures December 31, 2019 Investors who ploughed £5.8m into Chilango’s burrito bonds are set to have their investments converted into shares as the struggling Mexican chain fights to stay afloat. Under company voluntary agreement proposals (CVA) launched earlier this month, shareholders were offered the choice between cashing out bondholders’ investments at a rate of 10p per pound or transferring [...]
High street crisis: 16,000 shops closed in 2019 December 30, 2019 More than 16,000 stores have closed this year, according to the latest research, as retailers battle the ongoing challenges facing the high street. In total, 16,073 shops have shut down in 2019 – around 61 each working day – with the rate of store closures forecast to rise next year. Read more: All the big [...]
Small business confidence at an eight-year low December 30, 2019 Confidence among small businesses reached an eight-year low this month, according to a new survey. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Small Business Index (SBI) was negative for a sixth straight quarter, reaching its lowest point since the last recession. Read more: UK business confidence slumps to seven-year low The confidence index now stands at [...]
Boxing Day shopping slump as retailers suffer sharp decline in footfall December 28, 2019 Boxing Day shopping footfall fell at its steepest rate in nine years due to rain and Black Friday deals. In the period up until noon on 26 December, footfall was down by 10.6 per cent on the same period as a year ago, according to data company Springboard. It was the biggest decline since 2010, [...]