Asda equal pay dispute advances as UK supermarkets look on nervously February 3, 2025 Asda workers equal pay can advance to the final legal stage after the Tribunal ruled some of their jobs are of equal value to the jobs in the distribution centres
Magnet: Kitchen maker bets on premium as huge losses continue February 3, 2025 The group behind kitchen maker Magnet is hoping expanding into the premium market will help it return to profit after falling to another huge loss and cutting hundreds of jobs. Nobia Holdings UK, the company behind the brand, has set about restructuring itself in recent years after not making a pre-tax profit since 2019. But [...]
High street sales grow but threat of closures looms February 1, 2025 High street sales grew in January but the gains failed to offset volume losses last year, leading analysts to warn of closures as costs mount. Total retail sales in discretionary spend categories grew by 7.1 per cent in January, although this comes off the back of a 0.8 per cent drop last January, according to [...]
Emma Bridgewater: Jobs cut as UK’s ‘queen of pottery’ sinks further into the red January 31, 2025 The pottery brand founded by eponymous designer Emma Bridgewater cut jobs as it sank further into the red during its latest financial year. The business, which is based in Stoke-on-Trent and backed by BGF, has posted a pre-tax loss of £4.4m for the 12 months to 27 April, 2024. The loss comes after the company also [...]
John Lewis misses festive sales target as turnaround falters January 31, 2025 Sales at John Lewis are reported to have fallen short over the key Christmas trading period as middle-class Brits increasingly switch to shops like Marks and Spencer. According to reports from the Daily Telegraph, sales at Waitrose similarly missed targets. The employee-owned John Lewis Partnership (JLP) blamed “lower consumer confidence and weaker than expected market confidence” for [...]
Business confidence dips but the UK ‘has what it takes to deliver growth’ January 31, 2025 Overall business confidence slipped in January, although it was driven down by poorer sentiment about the wider economy rather than about individual businesses. Overall business confidence dipped two points to 37 per cent, with just over half of businesses positive about their own trading prospects and just under a quarter positive about the wider economy. [...]
FCA sets out plans to open up bond market to retail investors January 31, 2025 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has set out plans to slash “red tape” around the corporate bond market today in a bid to open up the asset class to retail investors and wealth managers. In consultation plans shared with City AM, the watchdog said it would look to coax more listed companies into issuing debt [...]
Mulberry: Luxury brand looks to turnaround ‘sub-optimal’ performance January 30, 2025 British luxury plan Mulberry has unveiled a turnaround plan aimed at rescuing the retailer from a period of decline. This comes after its share price has fallen 17 per cent in the last month and more than 30 per cent in the last year. Revenue for the last quarter of the year fell 18.3 per [...]
Asda ditches Aldi and Lidl price match promise just a year after launch January 29, 2025 Asda has axed its price-matching scheme with Aldi and Lidl in a bid to stop “dancing to the tune of the discounters”, according to reports. The Leeds-based firm, which in January 2024 became the first of the UK’s ‘big four’ to offer the scheme, said it wanted to focus on “its own great Asda prices, [...]
Tesco to cut 400 jobs as it moves to ‘more efficient’ working January 29, 2025 Tesco has announced plans to cut more than 400 jobs in a bid to improve efficiency at the grocer, following in the footsteps of Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons. The supermarket giant said that the “more competitive than ever” market means it must “work hard… to offer our customers unrivalled value”. “This means always being open [...]