Young’s pubs boss Patrick Dardis: “Smithfields is the new Covent Garden” November 16, 2017 Pub company Young’s has announced a deal to buy City favourite Smith’s of Smithfield and its sister site on Cannon Street. The acquisition was confirmed as the group reported a market-beating rise in sales across its pubs. The figures Revenue across managed pubs, which accounts for the biggest chunk of the business, was up 4.6 [...]
Pret a Manger private equity owner Bridgepoint confirms Burger King UK franchise buyout November 16, 2017 Pret a Manger owner Bridgepoint has confirmed that it will become the master franchisee of the Burger King brand in the UK. Reaching an agreement for an undisclosed amount with Burger King Europe, Bridgepoint will also acquire Caspian UK Group, one of the UK’s largest Burger King franchisees with 74 restaurants across the country. The [...]
Nisa members have voted in favour of Co-op’s takover offer November 13, 2017 Members of convenience chain Nisa have voted to accept The Co-operative's £140m offer for the business. The offer just scraped in over the minimum 75 per cent approval rate, with 75.79 per cent in favour and 24.21 per cent voting against the Co-op’s offer. The Co-op will now acquire the business for a total of [...]
The Foschini Group buys fashion brand Hobbs as 3i exits November 7, 2017 Hobbs, the British high street fashion retailer known for being a favourite of the Duchess of Cambridge, has found a new owner in the form of South African retailer The Foschini Group (TFG). Hobbs chief executive Meg Lustman said this would help the brand to become "truly successful". "With TFG’s existing experience managing desirable brands, [...]
Bonfire Night 2017: British consumers spend £497m on fireworks night November 4, 2017 It's fireworks weekend, with the majority of Brits planning to either attend a display or host their own Bonfire Night celebration. But new research from Wonga has found that even in an environment where most consumers are spending less on leisure activities, many are willing to see their cash go up in smoke for the [...]
Wetherspoon’s releases Brexit beer mats… again November 1, 2017 JD Wetherspoon has today placed 500,000 new beer mats in its pubs, in an effort to persuade punters unilateral free trade is the best approach for the UK post-Brexit. Founder and chairman Tim Martin argued last month that unilateral free trade will reduce food and drink prices in the UK, allowing Wetherspoon's to make its [...]
Unhappy and unengaged employees are losing the UK £85bn a year October 17, 2017 Disengaged employees in the UK are costing £85bn a year in lost productivity, according to a new study. The proportion of workers who are actively involved and enthusiastic about their jobs in the UK is just 11 per cent, Gallup's State of the Global Workforce report found. The results found that 68 per cent of [...]
Poundworld founder Chris Edwards to head up rival Poundstretcher October 15, 2017 Struggling bargain retailer Poundstretcher is set to be taken over by the founder of one of its main competitors, Poundworld. Chris Edwards, who founded Poundworld in 1974, is in line to become chief executive of Poundstretcher, the Sunday Times reported yesterday. Poundworld sold a majority stake to American private equity firm TPG in 2015 for [...]
Designer homeware site Made.com turned a profit in the UK for the first time last year October 4, 2017 Design business Made.com generated a profit in the UK for the first time last year. The figures In results for 2016 released today, the trendy homeware business revealed that its sales grew by 48 per cent. In the UK, revenue was up 38 per cent, helping the business to turn its first profit in the [...]
Tesco directors were responsible for ‘bullying’ employees into false accounting collusion September 29, 2017 Three former Tesco directors have been called "bullies" in court as their trial for fraud and false accounting draws to a close. Former Tesco UK managing director Christopher Bush, former commercial director for food John Scouler, and former finance director Carl Rogberg were today described as the "generals" who gave orders to the "footsoldiers" by [...]
