Marks and Spencer’s former finance chief to join Belron January 8, 2020 Marks & Spencer’s ex-finance chief will make a swift return to the corporate world, only eight days after leaving the British retail stalwart. Humphrey Singer, who worked for Marks &Spencer’s for less than two years, will become the new chief financial officer at Belron, a vehicle glass repair firm. Read more: Ocado joint venture with [...]
Ted Baker lenders appoint advisers to review prospects January 8, 2020 Ted Baker’s lenders have appointed advisers to review the struggling high street retailer’s prospects. Lenders including Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland have lined up restructuring experts FTI Consultants to lead an independent business review to explore the health of the company, Sky News reported. The review could take several weeks, and may lead to [...]
Greggs to roll out delivery nationwide after successful trials January 8, 2020 Greggs is preparing to roll out a delivery service nationwide following successful trials with Deliveroo and Just Eat. Fans of pasties, cakes and the bakery’s vegan sausage rolls across the UK will be able to order Greggs’ products to their door by the end of the year. Read more: Greggs employees to get £7m payout [...]
Fitness startup Classpass becomes a unicorn with $285m funding round January 8, 2020 Fitness startup Classpass today announced the close of a $285m funding round, pushing its total value past $1bn. The round, which was led by L Catterton and Apax Digital, means that the American company has joined the ranks of the so-called unicorns, startups which have raised more than $1bn in funding. Read more: Puregym expands [...]
On a roll: Greggs employees to get £7m bonus after ‘exceptional year’ January 8, 2020 Greggs has said it will give staff a special £7m bonus payment following a “phenomenal” year when the launch of its wildly popular vegan sausage roll helped bring in a higher than expected profit. In a trading update issued this morning, Greggs raised its profit forecast for the 12 months ending 28 December 2019, calling [...]
Retail CVAs decline as landlords push back against plans January 8, 2020 The number of retailers using company voluntary arrangements (CVAs) to rescue their businesses slumped last year due to backlash from landlords, as administrations spiked in December. The use of CVAs declined 24 per cent from 38 in 2018 to 29 in 2019 as landlords increasingly push back against rent cut requests by struggling retailers. Read [...]
Facebook and Ebay pledge to combat trading of fake reviews, says competition watchdog January 8, 2020 The competition watchdog has announced that Facebook and Ebay have signed agreements committing to combat the sale of fake and misleading reviews on their platforms. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) raised concerns about the trade of fake and misleading reviews on tech giants’ platforms last summer, and has been pressing them to crack down [...]
Topps Tiles blames political uncertainty for sales slump January 8, 2020 Topps Tiles’ sales sank in the final quarter of last year, which the firm blamed on political and economic uncertainty in the run up to the General Election. Like-for-like retail revenue dropped 5.4 per cent in the 13 weeks to 28 December. Read more: Topps Tiles chief executive quits after 12 years In the first [...]
Shoe Zone profit slumps after £3m hit on property valuation January 8, 2020 Budget footwear retailer Shoezone suffered a slump in profit last year after it was forced to take a £2.9m hit on the value of 17 properties. The figures Statutory profit before tax dropped from £9.6m to £6.7m after the company reported a £2.9m writedown on the value of 17 freehold properties. Read more: Retail landscape [...]
Poundland owner lines up advisors for stock market listing January 7, 2020 The owner of Poundland is reportedly mulling a stock market listing that could value the discount retailer at about £3.4bn. Steinhoff International Holdings, the owner of Poundland’s parent company Pepco Group, is expected to appoint advisors in the next few days to support plans for an initial public offering (IPO), Sky News reported. Read more: [...]