John Lewis boss to step back from role after two years October 7, 2024 John Lewis Partnership chief executive Nish Kankiwala will step back from his role in spring next year, with freshly-inaugurated chair Jason Terry to take a larger role in the day-to-day running of the firm. The retailer, which runs both the John Lewis retail chain and the Waitrose grocery arm, said that Kankiwala will revert to [...]
Sweet Dreams for bed retailer as sales near milestone October 7, 2024 Sales at bed retailer Dreams increased towards a new milestone as its profit remained steady during its latest financial year. The Buckinghamshire-headquartered chain has reported a turnover of £395.4m for 2023, up from the £387m it achieved in 2022. Newly-filed accounts with Companies House also show its pre-tax profit dipped slightly from £50m to £49.3m [...]
Wedgwood owner slumps to loss despite strong Harrods and Selfridges sales October 7, 2024 The owner of historic fine china and porcelain brand Wedgwood has slumped into the red despite strong sales through Harrods and Selfridges. Fiskars UK, which is based in Stoke-on-Trent, is also behind the Waterford, Royal Doulton and Royal Albert brands. Newly-filed accounts with Companies House have revealed that the business fell to a pre-tax loss [...]
Mars bar maker pays huge £600m dividend after UK success October 7, 2024 The UK arm of Mars Wrigley, which makes the likes of Mars bars and Skittles, has paid out a huge dividend of £600m after a bumper financial year. The business, which has UK manufacturing sites in Slough and Plymouth, has significantly upped its dividend for 2023, after also paying out £115m in 2022. The dividend [...]
Retail bosses urge Chancellor to reform business rates to boost growth October 7, 2024 The letter, co-ordinated by the British Retail Consortium (BRC), argued the retail industry paid 7.4 per cent of all business taxes when it only made up five per cent of the overall economy.
Bottega Veneta returns to the black amid interest rate and inflation woes October 4, 2024 The UK arm of Italian luxury fashion house Bottega Veneta returned to the black in 2023 despite the cot-of-living crisis cutting into its sales. The West Sussex-headquartered division has posted a pre-tax profit of £336,007 for its latest financial year, according to newly-filed accounts with Companies House. The total comes after the business reported a pre-tax [...]
Brioni: Harrods sales fail to stop cost-of-living crisis slashing profit October 4, 2024 Profit at the UK arm of Italian menswear luxury fashion house Brioni was slashed in 2023 despite its sales at Harrods helping to boost its overall turnover. The London-headquartered division has posted a pre-tax profit of £79,230 for the 12 months, down from the £370,533 it achieved in 2022. Newly-filed accounts with Companies House also show that its turnover [...]
Luxury retail might be struggling globally, but it’s thriving in London October 4, 2024 It’s somewhat surprisingly that luxury retail in London is doing so well, particularly given eye-catching figures about a wider downturn in the luxury market, the effect of the tourist tax, and the potential exodus of high-net-worth non doms from the capital. But while these “handicaps” – particularly the tourist tax – have hampered demand somewhat, [...]
Footfall at UK retailers improves for first time in over a year October 4, 2024 This was the first time that footfall has shown an improvement since July 2023.
Online discounting gives retail a boost but puts margins under pressure October 4, 2024 Widespread retail discounting boosted online sales growth in September, but has continued to squeeze their already-tight profit margins, according to fresh data. Total retail sales grew by 4.7 per cent compared to September last year and online sales were up by 11.6 per cent, accountancy and business advisory firm BDO’s high street sales tracker found. However, [...]