By: Amber Murray

Retail Reporter Amber Murray is a reporter at City A.M., covering retail, luxury and property stores. Prior to City A.M., she worked as a sub-editor for Fastmarkets and completed a Masters in Financial Journalism at City University. Please get in touch with stories/tips/coffees at amber.murray@cityam.com

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Platform Housing: Turnover up as investment in existing homes trumps construction of new ones

August 28, 2024

Platform Housing Group has reported a strong start to the year, although the rate of new-build homes has fallen with the focus shifting to improving social rented properties. Turnover at the company grew by 14.8 per cent to £92.3m in the three months to June 2024, up from £80.4m in June 2023, with 95 per [...]
Naked Wines ‘in much better shape’ despite further losses

August 28, 2024

Online wine seller Naked Wines has reported a slump in profit and a higher loss despite “significant strides” made over the past few months to restructure the business. Total sales fell by 18 per cent year on year to £290m in the 52 weeks ended 1 April 2024, while the company’s statutory loss before tax widened [...]
Cosmetic ‘tweakments’ surge after Love Island return

August 27, 2024

Love Island returned for its 11th season in June this year, with contestants sporting noticeably cosmetically-enhanced full lips, cheeks and smooth skin. The show has created a “surge of people requesting specific looks”, aesthetician Dr Ed Robinson said, known as “the Love Island look”. Dr Robinson said he has seen a twelve-fold increase in the [...]
Unilever considers sale of Kate Somerville’s skincare line

August 27, 2024

Kate Somerville’s premium skincare brand has become the latest Unilever brand to go up for sale as the group continues its restructuring plan announced earlier in the year. As well as Somerville’s eponymous facialist line, which the FTSE-100 giant has owned since 2015, it is also looking to offload sensitive-skincare specialist REN Skincare, according to [...]
Primark owner AB Foods’ shares drop after investors advised to sell up

August 27, 2024

Shares in Associated British Foods, which owns British stalwarts like Primark, Kingsmills and Twinings, dropped this morning after stockbroker Deutsche Numis downgraded its rating from ‘hold’ to ‘sell’. Shares in the FTSE 100 firm, which owns businesses in five segments including grocery, sugar, agriculture, ingredients and retail, dropped more than three per cent in early [...]
Ocado cements Coles partnership as Australian fulfilment centres open

August 27, 2024

Online grocer Ocado has announced that its two fulfilment centres in Australia commenced operations in July after a year of delays. The centres, which will serve communities in Melbourne and Sydney via Ocado’s Smart Platform, were opened in partnership with Australian online grocer Coles. The partnership was signed in 2019 and has been subject to [...]
Bunzl: FTSE 100 giant upgrades profit guidance amid record year for acquisitions

August 27, 2024

Specialist distribution group Bunzl has upgraded its profit guidance once more and reported a strong first half as its resilient business model continued to hold up. The FTSE 100 company reported a decline in revenue of 0.4 per cent at constant exchange rates to reach £5.7b, with “underlying revenue trends improving in the second quarter [and] [...]
Google facing £1bn competition lawsuit from professor on behalf of SMEs

August 23, 2024

A professor has launched a class action lawsuit against Google on behalf of SMEs he said have been negatively hit by excessive commissions on its Play Store. Competition law professor at the University of Strathclyde, Barry Rodger, has alleged that Google has abused its dominant position by excluding competition in app distribution and by charging [...]
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour boosts London amid calls for the icon to get Freedom of the City

August 23, 2024

On Tuesday night, Taylor Swift played the final show of the European leg of her record-breaking Eras Tour at Wembley Stadium. The results are in: London saw a boost in consumer spending, city footfall and tube journeys during her stay in the capital, with one MP describing her tour as a “lifeline” to the UK [...]
Why are convenience stores all the rage?

August 22, 2024

Earlier this week, Waitrose became the latest UK grocer to announce a big push into the convenience store market. The supermarket giant will open 100 stores in the next five years as part of a $1bn investment plan. Waitrose follows Asda, Morrisons (with its McColl’s estate), Tesco, Sainsbury’s and the Co-op in ploughing ahead with [...]

The relentless rise of unregulated finfluencers

Why World Cup hydration breaks will push traditional ads to the subs bench

Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival to drive millions into Scotch sector

By: Amber Murray

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