Claire’s Accessories administrators hand creditors nearly £10m bill Retail The administrators of collapsed jewellery retailer Claire’s Accessories have billed nearly £10m for their work, with bosses charging more than £1,500 per hour. The retail chain collapsed for the second time in January, just months after private equity firm Modella Capital bought it out of administration last September. The double collapse of Claire’s looks set [...]
WH Smith warns on profit again as discounting hits margins Retail WH Smith has cut its profit target again after warning that intense discounting and “inflation headwinds” are hitting its bottom line. The convenience retailer had initially told investors it could make as much as £105m in pre-tax profit this year, before slashing the target to between £75m and £90m. On Wednesday, the group reduced its [...]
The Danish retailer plotting to outsmart ‘unsentimental’ Modella Capital Retail On the modern-day British high street, a Scandinavian shop featuring maze-like aisles, quirky homeware and bags of licorice near the till is not quite a reinvention of the wheel. But Mikkel Grene, chief executive of Danish homeware retailer Søstrene Grene, believes his business can go toe-to-toe with Ikea and Flying Tiger for pride of place [...]
Next and Frasers go head to head for control of Harvey Nichols July 28, 2026 Retail giants Next and Frasers are set to go head to head for control of ailing department store Harvey Nichols when the Hong Kong-owned firm takes bids from British suitors later on Tuesday. The Knightsbridge-headquartered department store chain was put up for sale last month by its owner, Hong Kong billionaire Sir Dickson Poon, and [...]
Modella-owned Hobbycraft survives restructuring July 20, 2026 Hobbycraft has survived a restructuring led by its new owner, divisive high street private equity firm Modella Capital. The UK’s largest craft retailer has completed its 13-month company voluntary arrangement (CVA) ahead of schedule, reporting a jump in online users. The company’s emergence from its restructuring defies recent gloom around Modella’s swoops on other high [...]
TG Jones backs down from clash with landlords in bid to save stores June 23, 2026 TG Jones has been forced to offer a string of concessions to its landlords after proposals to slash rent in a bid to avert the collapse of hundreds of former WH Smith stores. The retailer, formerly the high street arm of WH Smith, has convinced FTSE 100 landowner British Land to drop its opposition to [...]
Regulator opens probe into PwC over WH Smith audit debacle June 9, 2026 The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has launched an investigation into PwC over its audit of WH Smith that resulted in delayed annual results last year. Last August, WH Smith shares plummeted by up to 40 per cent after it admitted to an accounting error that overstated expected headline trading profit in its North American business [...]
TG Jones owner Modella puts jobs at risk in shoe retailer overhaul June 2, 2026 Modella Capital is set to put hundreds of jobs on the line as it pursues its latest drastic restructuring, this time of northern shoe seller Wynsors World of Shoes. The private equity firm which owns hundreds of former WH Smith stores has briefed staff on its plans for an overhaul at the shoe retailer it [...]
TG Jones owner Modella buys Flying Tiger in latest high street swoop May 27, 2026 Modella Capital has snapped up Flying Tiger Copenhagen in the private equity firm’s latest swoop on the British high street. The private equity firm sealed the previously trailed deal with Danske Bank and Nordea, the owners of Flying Tiger, on Wednesday. Modella bought Claire’s Accessories before shortly pushing it into administration and its empire of [...]
Mark Kleinman: Could Wells Fargo bank on a megadeal with Barclays? May 14, 2026 Mark Kleinman is Sky News’ City Editor and the man who gets the Square Mile talking in his City AM column Could Wells Fargo bank on a mega-deal with Barclays? Now this really would liven up London’s M&A market. Since the turn of the year, the City rumour mill has persistently buzzed with talk of the biggest deal [...]