Poundland to close 68 stores in restructuring plan June 17, 2025 Poundland has announced the closure of just under 10 per cent of its estate as its restructuring plan takes shape under new ownership. The discount retailer, previously owned by Pepco, was acquired by investment giant Gordon Brothers for just £1 after a prolonged period of declining sales. The chain has struggled with “challenging trading conditions”, [...]
Flora and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter maker issues huge pay day June 17, 2025 The company behind Flora and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter has issued a huge dividend to the tune of £90m – the first since it was taken over by private equity giant KKR. The US-headquartered group, which acquired Flora Food Group – then called Upfield – from Unilever for more than $8bn in 2017. [...]
Asos replaces finance chief after just one year June 17, 2025 Asos’ chief finance officer Dave Murray has stepped down from his role after 15 months as the struggling commerce giant continued to push a turnaround. He will be replace by Aaron Izzard, who currently serves as director of group finance at Asos. Murray, who will leave to “pursue other opportunities”, has helmed Asos’ finance division [...]
Business rates to hammer the West End: ‘This whole policy is nuts’ June 16, 2025 A rise in business rates for more expensive properties is set to hammer valuable areas like London’s West End, a leading investment firm has warned. The policy, which aims to bring down business rates for small properties by raising them for large properties, has been slammed as “unlikely to save the high street” and likely [...]
Dunelm’s ‘market-beating’ potential hailed as shares rocket June 16, 2025 Dunelm has been hailed as a “coiled spring” by London broker Peel Hunt amid rising sales and its shares rocketing in recent weeks. The Leicester-headquartered retailer, which is a member of the FTSE 250 index, a “clear moat” compared to its competitors due to a combination of more products, more active customers and a much [...]
Neal’s Yard Dairy: Profit fell before £300,000 cheddar heist June 16, 2025 Profit at London cheese specialist Neal’s Yard Dairy fell in the year before it fell victim to a £300,000 cheddar heist. The southwark-based company hit the headlines in October 2024 when fraudsters posing as legitimate wholesalers received the 950 clothbound cheeses from the business before bosses realised they were a fake firm. At the time, [...]
Motorway CEO: How I built my $1bn empire after a huge failure June 16, 2025 The co-founder and chief executive of used car marketplace Motorway has opened up about how he helped to build a $1bn empire from scratch following the biggest failure of his career. On an up-coming episode of City AM’s Boardroom Uncovered show, Tom Leathes also revealed how he and his fellow founders landed on the car [...]
Grenade: We invented ‘good’ protein bars June 16, 2025 It is difficult to walk around a supermarket without being screamed at by a collection of very similar labels on very different aisles: High-protein yogurt! Protein powder bread! All natural high-protein ketchup! As the final social-media-endorsed macronutrient standing, protein’s stock has soared from a good-to-have to a must-buy in the last decade. Somewhat inexplicably, Marks [...]
Nationwide to Greggs: King’s honours list champions UK business leaders June 14, 2025 Entrepreneurs and company chiefs in tech, recruitment and banking have been recognised for their contributions to UK business in the King’s birthday honours. Microsoft UK boss Clare Barclay and ceramics founder Emma Bridgewater, dubbed the “queen of pottery”, received damehoods for services to business. Nationwide chief executive Debbie Crosbie, who led a £2.3bn takeover of [...]
Aldi denied permission to appeal Thatchers court ruling June 12, 2025 Aldi has been denied permission to appeal against a court ruling that it infringed on the British cider brand Thatchers’ trademark with its cloudy lemon cider product. The Court of Appeal found against the discount supermarket giant in January after the family-owned cider maker launched a legal battle in 2022. Thatchers claimed that the supermarket [...]