British competition watchdog to probe JD Sports’ £90m Footasylum merger May 17, 2019 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating JD Sports' merger with Footasylum, it confirmed today. JD Sports recently completed the acquisition of Footasylum in a deal worth £90m. Read more: Thomas Cook shares crash as investors urged to sell Both JD Sports Fashion and owner of Footasylum, the Pentland Group, have been issued with an initial [...]
Amazon leads £450m Deliveroo funding round as startup expands London tech team May 17, 2019 Deliveroo today confirmed Amazon is leading a $575m (£450m) funding round in the food delivery business as it plans to expand its London engineering team with some of the cash. Read more: Amazon in talks to invest millions in Deliveroo The round, including money from existing investors T Rowe Price, Fidelity Management and Greenoaks, takes [...]
Debate: As National Vegetarian Week ends, will this group outnumber meat eaters in the next decade? May 17, 2019 As National Vegetarian Week ends, will this group outnumber meat eaters in the next decade? YES – Sophie Lewis is chief strategy officer at marketing agency VMLY&R. If you’d asked me two years ago, my answer would have been in the negative, but we’ve reached a cultural tipping point when it comes to both vegetarians [...]
The Restaurant Group sees sales rocket 57 per cent after Wagamama merger May 17, 2019 Frankie & Benny’s owner The Restaurant Group began to feel the benefits of its controversial Wagamama purchase as sales soared 57 per cent in the year to May. Read more: The Restaurant Group profits fall as like-for-like sales slip Like-for-like sales rose 2.8 per cent, meaning the acquisition of Wagamama for £559m at the end [...]
Amazon in talks to invest £450m in Deliveroo May 16, 2019 Amazon is in talks to invest hundreds of millions of pounds in Deliveroo giving the food delivery app a boost as it takes on takeaway rival Uber Eats. The internet retailer will announce a deal to back Deliveroo as part of a $575m (£450m) funding round which is expected to be revealed in the coming days, [...]
Former Apple retail head Angela Ahrendts appointed to Airbnb’s board May 16, 2019 Airbnb has beefed up its board of directors with the appointment of Angela Ahrendts, former head of retail at Apple. Ahrendts, who is also a former chief executive of luxury fashion house Burberry, will become an independent board member alongside ex-American Express boss Ken Chenault and former Pixar finance chief Ann Mather. She resigned from Apple [...]
Waitrose sets out £1bn online shopping plan as it prepares for life without Ocado May 16, 2019 Waitrose has revealed a £1bn plan to bolster its online operations today as it prepares for life without Ocado. The upmarket grocer has signed a deal with Today Development Partners (TDP) in a bid to treble the size of its online business over the next three years, as its 20-year relationship with delivery giant Ocado nears its [...]
Pret in talks to gobble up rival Eat as part of health-conscious expansion plan May 16, 2019 Sandwich chain Pret A Manger is in discussions to snap up rival food group Eat in a bid to create a swathe of vegan and vegetarian-friendly food outlets. Read more: Pret A Manger reveals latest plans to help London's homeless Pret is nearing a deal to buy most of Eat’s 94 outlets or the entire [...]
Asda sales dip on Easter timing as IPO interest mounts May 16, 2019 Asda reported a fall in like-for-like sales today following the later timing of Easter, amid growing City speculation over a possible floatation for the Walmart-owned grocery giant. Like-for-like sales at the group tumbled 1.1 per cent as a result of the holiday shift in the three months to the end of March, Walmart said today, [...]
Morrisons fails to convince despite Ocado deal May 16, 2019 | City Talk By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. It talks the talk, and a 6 per cent dividend yield is attractive, but can this £50 billion grocer walk the walk? Morrisons (LSE:MRW) offered more evidence of its "ever-improving shape" after a robust trading update and intriguing deal to re-write its online partnership with Ocado. While the supermarket's shares [...]