Debenhams may shut 90 stores and slash 10,000 jobs in rescue plan January 14, 2019 Debenhams could cut 10,000 jobs as part of a desperate attempt to keep the company afloat amid plunging profits and a dramatic boardroom coup. The struggling department store has earmarked as many as 90 high street stores for closure, the Daily Telegraph reported yesterday. Debenhams had already announced plans to close 50 of its 165 [...]
JD Sports eyes strong profits thanks to international expansion January 14, 2019 JD Sports today said it expects full-year profits to hit the higher end of its targets as international growth helped defy tough retail conditions. The sports retailer reported total sales growth of 15 per cent in the 48 weeks to 5 January, with like-for-like sales up five per cent in the same period. Read more: Retail [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Super Thursday: Embattled retailers could learn from the Tesco turnaround plan January 10, 2019 It wasn’t only children who traditionally looked forward to Christmas: time was when Yuletide sales could be guaranteed to give a substantial boost to Britain’s retailers. No longer. A slew of dismal results published today showed Christmas figures sharply down for a number of household names including M&S and Debenhams, in what the British Retail [...]
Mike Ashley loses patience with Debenhams, pushing chair and chief executive from board January 10, 2019 Mike Ashley, the chief executive of Sports Direct, has dramatically shaken up the top leadership of Debenhams, blocking the reappointment of the company’s chair and chief executive to its board during its annual general meeting this afternoon. Sir Ian Cheshire, chair of the retailer’s board since 2016, informed the company he would step down with immediate [...]
Debenhams’ Christmas sales slip as it continues talks with lenders over its future January 10, 2019 Sales at troubled department store chain Debenhams dived over Christmas, its latest trading update revealed today, sending its share price even lower. In the 18 weeks to 5 January like-for-like sales fell 5.7 per cent compared to the same period last year. Read more: These are the high street retailers that collapsed in 2018 The [...]
Debenhams share price slips ahead of market update this week January 7, 2019 Shares in troubled department store Debenhams slipped three per cent today ahead of a trading update on Thursday when it will reveal how it fared over Christmas. The retailer, which has its annual general meeting on Thursday, has seen its share price tank this year, falling from 30p 12 months ago to just 5.5p today. There was [...]