Footfall slides in December as discounting does little to boost retail woes January 14, 2019 The number of shoppers visiting retail parks, shopping centre and high streets continued to slide during December, as attempts to claw back revenue lost earlier in the year through festive discounting failed to lift the fortunes for many of Britain’s bricks-and-mortar brands. New figures released by Springboard this morning have found that footfall in December tumbled [...]
Consumer group calls on Ryanair to refund passengers hit by name change “glitch” January 14, 2019 Ryanair came under renewed criticism today from a leading consumer rights activist for refusing to refund customers who were allegedly charged fees in error. Hundreds of customers were required to pay a £115 name change surcharge due to a "glitch" on Ryanair's website which caused incorrect surnames to be recorded on passenger bookings, according to [...]
HMV future could be decided this week as bid deadline looms January 13, 2019 The future of music retailer HMV will be decided this week as the deadline for rescue bids draws close. HMV collapsed into administration for the second time in six years late last month. Its administrator KPMG has set a deadline of Tuesday for suitors to lodge bids for the chain, Sky News was the first [...]
Fears over business rates mount as Britain’s major retailers prepare to form action group January 13, 2019 Some of Britain’s biggest retailers are coming together in an urgent bid to seek business rates relief from the government, City A.M. has learned. Around 50 major high street names are joining a mass lobbying effort to curb forthcoming rises in their property tax, as profits plunge in the face of falling sales and online [...]
City focuses on Boohoo as online giant hopes to defy retail gloom January 13, 2019 Online fashion giant Boohoo looks set to defy the gloom hanging over Britain’s retail industry later this week when it is expected to post another quarter of sharp sales growth. The City will be turning its attention towards the e-commer giant to see whether its festive fortunes were enough to buck a current trend of dismal [...]
World’s largest brewer AB InBev considers public listing of Asian operations January 12, 2019 Brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev is eyeing up a partial flotation of its Asian business in a move that could raise billions of dollars. The brewer behind major beer brands including Budweiser and Stella Artois is in discussions with bankers about a potential initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong that could help to reduce its [...]
Tesco and M&S reveal stockpiling amid concerns of a ‘no deal’ Brexit January 12, 2019 Two of the UK’s biggest supermarkets have revealed they are stockpiling food in case of a “no deal” Brexit. Both Tesco and Marks & Spencer have confirmed they are stockpiling long-life food such as packets and tins ahead of the UK leaving the EU on March 29. M&S chief executive, Steve Rowe, admitted his company’s [...]
Debenhams’ share price plunges 18 per cent following shock boardroom coup January 11, 2019 Shares in struggling department store chain Debenhams crashed 18 per cent to 3.9p today following yesterday’s shock Mike Ashley-inspired annual general meeting coup. Sports Direct boss and major Debenhams shareholder Ashley blocked the re-appointment of the company’s chairman and chief executive to the board at yesterday’s AGM. Sir Ian Cheshire, chair of the retailer’s board since [...]
Retail round up: What’s happening on the high street? January 11, 2019 | City Talk Not as bad as it could have been. That’s the general feeling about high street performance over Christmas after major retailers and the supermarkets published their festive figures this week. The British Retail Consortium says that 2018 was the worst Christmas for retails for 10 years but, as ever, the figures show there are winners [...]
UK’s largest pub owner Ei to sell off properties in £348m deal January 11, 2019 The largest pub company in the UK, Ei Group, will sell off the lion’s share of its commercial properties to a US hedge fund in a deal worth £348m. Ei today said it will sell 370 properties to Tavern Propco, a newly-incorporated private fund owned by Davidson Kempner Capital Management. The pub owner and operator, [...]