By: Helen Cahill

I report on retail and property for City A.M. I have covered the investigation into BHS and London's housing crisis. You can email me on helen.cahill@cityam.com with tips or commentary.

Maplin job losses continue as administrators fail to find a buyer

Maplin's administrators have announced further job losses this morning after failing to find a buyer for the business. The retail chain, which employs more than 2,000 people, was put into administration at the end of February. PwC has been handling the process, and today said a further 66 redundancies had been made at Maplin's head [...]
KPMG appointed to handle Mothercare refinancing

Mothercare has called in KPMG to advise on a refinancing of the business, City A.M. can reveal. The retail chain is in talks with its lenders about raising money for a turnaround and has drafted in KPMG to advise on securing waivers to its financial covenants. Mothercare's share price fell by more than 10 per [...]
House prices continue to fall in London, with experts predicting muted growth until 2022

London house prices continued to fall last month as the capital's housing market cooled, with experts predicting price growth to remain subdued until 2022. Asking prices fell by 0.6 per cent year-on-year this month, according to figures published today by Rightmove. The average price for a property in London was £631,651. Read more: London house [...]

Tech friend or foe? Sadiq on why going up against Uber isn’t bad for London’s business

March 12, 2018

Sadiq Khan pledged to be the most “business-friendly” mayor to lead London when he was elected almost two years ago. But in September last year, he shocked the business community by backing Transport for London’s (TfL) decision to revoke Uber’s licence. Uber is not known for its good corporate governance, but Khan was criticised for [...]
Done deal: Tesco completes £3.7bn acquisition of Booker Group

March 5, 2018

Tesco today completed its acquisition of Booker Group, creating the leading food group in the UK. The £3.7bn deal was given court approval on Friday after shareholders voted it through last week. Booker Group's shares have been de-listed from the London Stock Exchange. Each share has been exchanged for 42.5p in cash, and 0.861 new [...]
Trouble in store for House of Fraser as credit insurer pulls cover

March 4, 2018

A credit insurer has pulled cover on House of Fraser, underscoring the difficulties faced by the department store following a disappointing set of Christmas figures. A spokesperson for House of Fraser said 20 of the business' 650 suppliers were affected by the credit insurer's decision. Those suppliers will now have to find new insurance, or [...]
Retail job losses could number 15,000 as industry strains under cost pressures

March 1, 2018

At least 15,000 retail sector jobs have either been slashed this year or are now at risk as household names sink into administration, according to calculations by City A.M. Toys R Us and Maplin went into administration yesterday, putting more than 5,500 jobs in doubt. The double-whammy for the industry comes after fashion chain East [...]
It’s official: Tesco and Booker will merge to form UK’s largest food group

February 28, 2018

Booker Group's shareholders have backed Tesco's £3.7bn bid for the wholesaler today, giving Tesco boss Dave Lewis the green light to create to UK's largest food group. Reuters reported that 83.4 per cent of Booker investors approved the deal; Booker needed the backing of 75 per cent of votes for the merger to go ahead. [...]
These are the top development hotspots in London for 2018

February 19, 2018

House prices may have fallen in London last year, but there are still parts of the capital which have potential for developers. Knight Frank has analysed the parts of London which are likely to outperform the market in terms of price between 2018 and 2021, and have room for development. Read more: The risers and [...]
Tesco UK chief Matt Davies to become N Brown’s chairman

February 18, 2018

Tesco's UK chief Matt Davies is leaving the retailer to become the chairman of N Brown. N Brown, which owns JD Williams, Simply Be and Jacamo, has been seeking a replacement for its current chairman Andy Higginson for a number of months. Davies will take the reins from Higginson after Tesco's £3.7bn takeover of Booker [...]

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