John Lewis, Pret and the 30 biggest private companies MPs want held more accountable February 12, 2017 Middle class favourite John Lewis and lunch time hotsport Pret a Manger are just two of Britain's most well-known businesses which could be subject to a stricter code of governance traditionally reserved for Britain's top public companies. Under new proposals suggested by a group of MPs, 30 of Britain's biggest privately owned companies would have to set [...]
A big year, but it won’t Trump 2016’s shocks January 6, 2017 2016's events made fools of most pundits, and looking back at my column exactly a year ago, I fared little better. True, I correctly said that Santander UK would re-engage in an effort to buy Royal Bank of Scotland's Williams & Glyn unit, but I was well wide of the mark arguing that the FTSE-100 [...]
Matalan drops Korean clothes supplier amid rumours of a pricing row October 30, 2016 Matalan has dropped one of its long-term suppliers amid rumours of price concerns. Korean firm JJ Global will no longer manufacture clothes for the discount retailer, following a n alleged dispute between JJ Global boss Kenny Kim and Matalan chief executive Jason Hargreaves. The Sunday Times has claimed that Kim and Hargreaves argued over pricing, as [...]
The fashion industry is on its steepest decline for seven years October 17, 2016 The fashion market is on its steepest decline for seven years, according to new data, with £700m wiped off the value of the UK market since last year. According to figures from Kantar Worldpanel, sales declined for the fourth month in a row in September as retailers continued to offer huge discounts to consumers. Kantar [...]
Will Mark Carney’s corporate bond-buying help UK companies? August 11, 2016 Companies across the UK are bracing themselves for a shake-up to the way they raise cash on the corporate finance market as the Bank of England prepares to start buying private sector debt. Threadneedle Street will buy around £10bn of top-quality corporate bonds as part of its mission to help the UK avoid a recession [...]
The BHS brouhaha continues: Former Mothercare boss teams up with wealthy Portuguese investors for bid May 24, 2016 Greg Tufnell, the former boss of Mothercare and Burton, has teamed up with Portuguese bigwigs to set up a consortium to bid for embattled retailer BHS. It has been widely reported that the investment vehicle, Richess Group, is backed by a wealthy Portuguese family along with Portuguese financier Jose Maria Soares Bento, and Nick De [...]
PPF and administrator in discussions over possibly placing BHS into liquidation May 24, 2016 The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) is in talks with BHS' administrators over placing the retailer into liquidation, as fears grow that the company cannot be saved. The PPF, which is the company's largest unsecured creditor, is thought to have entered the discussion because it wants to maximise the potential returns for creditors. The conversations between the [...]
Wealthy foreign family named as potential bidder for BHS May 23, 2016 A wealthy overseas investor is reportedly in talks to save the high street clothing store BHS. The bidder has launched a new vehicle with the intention of taking over the ailing retail company within the next 48 hours, according to Sky News. Sources speaking to Sky News could not confirm the exact identity of the bidder, [...]
Chairman of BIS select committee unimpressed by evidence given on BHS so far May 23, 2016 As the inquiry into the collapse of BHS continues today, chairman of the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee has said he is "not impressed" by the people who have given evidence so far. Iain Wright, Labour chair of the committee looking into the sale and acquisition of BHS, told BBC 5live's Wake up to [...]