WH Smith removes Telegraph from railway station stores February 19, 2020 WH Smith has stopped selling the Telegraph in some of its branches following a dispute over prices. The decision to stop selling the newspaper in its railway station shops comes after the Telegraph increased the price of its daily, Saturday and Sunday editions earlier this month. However, the newspaper publisher has not yet increased the [...]
EU immigration proposals ‘disastrous’ for hospitality industry February 19, 2020 Parts of Britain’s hospitality industry have lashed out at the government’s new EU immigration proposals, with the sector’s leading trade body calling them “disastrous”. The government’s long-awaited post-Brexit immigration proposals were released last night. From January, all EU immigration applicants will need to speak English, have a job offer in the UK with a salary [...]
Laura Ashley shares bounce back after lender offers lifeline February 19, 2020 Shares in Laura Ashley jumped more than 45 per cent today after the struggling retailer secured access to a £20m lifeline following emergency talks with its lender. The high street brand said today that discussions between Malaysian owner MUI Asia and Wells Fargo over access to a working capital facility had concluded. In a statement this [...]
Coronavirus outbreak: Sportswear giants Puma and Adidas warn on trading impact February 19, 2020 German sportswear giants Puma and Adidas have warned that the outbreak of coronavirus in China has hurt trading due to the temporary closure of stores and a drop in footfall. Puma said the outbreak will impact sales and profits in the first quarter of the year, after it was forced to shutter more than half [...]
All Beales stores set for closure as no buyer found February 18, 2020 Department store chain Beales is preparing to shutter all of its stores after administrators were unable to find a buyer for the business, putting hundreds of jobs at risk. KPMG said it will “continue discussions with a number of interested parties for a sale of the business as a going concern” but has begun preparing [...]
Laura Ashley share price dives again in second day of losses February 18, 2020 Shares in struggling high street retailer Laura Ashley tumbled today as the brand’s owners continued to scramble to secure emergency funding to keep the firm trading. The retailer – which is due to publish its interim results on Thursday – suffered a share price drop of 22.96 per cent today, to 1.56p, after plunging more [...]
Asda sales slump due to ‘cautious’ Christmas shoppers February 18, 2020 Asda sales slumped over the crucial festive trading period due to “cautious” consumer spending, as shoppers reined in their Christmas lists. The supermarket giant said like-for-like sales excluding petrol dropped 1.3 per cent in the three months to the end of December. The sales drop was driven by “challenging market conditions”, particularly in Asda’s clothing [...]
Union slams Amazon over ‘hellish’ warehouse conditions February 18, 2020 More than 600 serious injuries or near misses have been logged at Amazon warehouses in the past three years, according to the latest figures from GMB Union. Between 2016/17 and 2018/19 a total of 622 reports have been made from Amazon warehouses to the Health and Safety Executive, the union said as it called for [...]
Hamilton promoter Reach 4 Entertainment jumps on higher forecasts February 18, 2020 Shares in Reach 4 Entertainment (R4E) jumped as much as 17 per cent this morning after the theatre marketing firm upped its forecasts for full-year trading. R4E, which runs marketing campaigns for West Ends shows such as Hamilton and The Lion King, said it expected to report revenue and profit “significantly” ahead of market expectations. [...]
Intercontinental Hotels sales in Hong Kong drop on protests February 18, 2020 Intercontinental Hotels has reported a slight dip in revenue per room in 2019, with the Holiday Inn-owner hit by a fall in bookings in Hong Kong due to the unrest in the territory. The hotel group, which operates 443 hotels in Greater China under various brands, said comparable revenue per available room (revpar) dipped 0.3 [...]