Mark Kleinman: Interserve is left to clean up its own mess March 15, 2019 What’s this? A public voting process punctuated by angry disputes about the terms and timing of a deal; feverish talk of ousting the top team orchestrating the agreement; and potentially dire consequences if the vote is blocked. It sounds a lot like events in Westminster, but today might instead mark the denouement of another of [...]
Debenhams considers Mike Ashley’s £150m loan offer March 14, 2019 Debenhams said it will give “careful consideration” to Sports Direct’s proposed £150m loan this morning, after receiving the offer last night. Read more: Sports Direct accuses Debenhams of 'deliberately misleading' the market The struggling department store chain received the 12-month loan offer from billionaire Mike Ashley last night, as the retail magnate accused the board [...]
What’s Mike Ashley’s game with Debenhams? March 8, 2019 | City Talk Mike Ashley is consistent in the way he always manages to surprise us. On Thursday night in a post-market RNS the Sports Direct boss announced he was planning a boardroom cull at Debenhams, installing himself as chief executive officer. Only the recently appointed Rachel Osborne would survive the cull. On Tuesday, after Debs warned on [...]
Debenhams shares bounce back as Mike Ashley launches power grab March 8, 2019 Shares in embattled department store chain Debenhams jumped as much as 25 per cent this morning after Mike Ashley launched an audacious bid to take control of the company. The retail mogul last night demanded an extraordinary general meeting of Debenhams shareholders, calling for all but one of the existing board members to be ousted. Read [...]
Mike Ashley moves to oust Debenhams board and appoint himself as director March 7, 2019 Retail tycoon Mike Ashley has ramped up the pressure on embattled department store chain Debenhams this evening, after making an audacious bid to axe most of the firm’s directors and appoint himself to the board. In a surprise announcement made on the London Stock Exchange tonight, the billionaire magnate pledged to step down from his current role [...]
The high street can be saved if physical shops and online retailers collaborate and use data March 5, 2019 In January, affiliate marketing company Awin released research showing that 39 per cent of Britons wouldn’t really mind if we lost all high street stores altogether, with over a third of respondents saying that they “almost never” shopped there anyway. News stories about high street stalwarts being in the doldrums have become a recurring theme, from [...]
Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct makes offer for Findel March 4, 2019 Sports Direct tycoon Mike Ashley is looking to continue his retail spending spree after announcing a £139m offer to buy Findel this morning. Sports Direct, which is currently Findel’s largest shareholder, said in a note to the London Stock Exchange that it has offered to purchase the remaining shares in Findel that it does not already [...]
MPs urge government to slap penny tax on new clothes in bid to cut fashion industry waste February 19, 2019 An influential group of MPs has called for a 1p tax on new clothes in a bid to tackle consumer waste within the fashion industry. The penny tax, which would be levied on every new item of clothing sold by Britain’s retailers, has been proposed this morning by the cross-party Environmental Audit Committee to raise [...]
Patisserie Valerie wins rescue backing from private equity firm February 14, 2019 Scandal-hit Patisserie Valerie has been rescued in a £13m management buyout backed by Irish private equity firm Causeway Capital Partners. The cake chain confirmed this morning that Causeway Capital Partners had struck a deal with Patisserie Valerie's administrators in a move that is set to save 2,000 jobs and 96 of the firm's remaining branches. Retail and [...]
Debenhams secures £40m cash lifeline in fight for survival February 12, 2019 Embattled department store chain Debenhams saw its shares jump 35 per cent this morning after it secured a £40m cash injection, as it fights to keep afloat amid crunch debt talks with lenders. The retailer, which has issued three profit warnings in the last 12 months, said that the agreed £40m loan will "act as a bridge to facilitate a [...]