Epiphany co-founder Shane Quigley turns his hand to Matalan with launch of homeware brand July 15, 2015 Serial entrepreneur Shane Quigley, who turned £5,000 into £18m by co-founding digital marketing group Epiphany, is leading the charge for Matalan’s launch of an online-only homeware brand – Matalan Direct. He heads the retailing group’s challenge to established online homeware retailers B&Q, Dunelm and HomeSense. Earlier this year Quigley started Earth Bathrooms, a homeware brand [...]
Matalan chief Jason Hargreaves makes retailer a family affair May 14, 2015 Jason Hargreaves made a trip to Oxford Street earlier this year with his four-year-old daughter in tow. The managing director of Matalan, the out-of-town value fashion and homeware chain founded by his father, John Hargreaves, 30 years ago, came to view its first ever central London store at the east end of on Oxford [...]
Sir Philip Green poised for BHS sell-off March 9, 2015 Update: This deal has now gone through. Read the full details here. Sir Philip Green (pictured above with TV star Holly Willoughby )is understood to be close to agreeing a deal to sell troubled department store chain BHS in a move that would break up his Arcadia empire. American hedge fund Apollo’s retail fund [...]
Bye-bye BHS? Sir Philip Green poised for Arcadia break up with sell off deal March 8, 2015 Sir Philip Green is poised to agree a deal that would break up his Arcadia retail empire. The tycoon is about to wrap up a deal to sell off troubled high street department store chain BHS according to several reports. It was revealed at the beginning of the year that Green, who bought up BHS [...]
Kennedy Wilson makes £503m swoop on UK property assets December 22, 2014 KENNEDY Wilson Europe Real Estate has bought a £503m portfolio of 180 mixed-use properties from receivers working on behalf of Aviva Commercial Real Estate Finance. The company, part of the Beverley Hills-based property group that raised £1bn through a London float earlier this year, said the 3.5m square feet portfolio is spread across the UK, [...]
Philip Clarke, Euan Sutherland and Dov Charney – the bosses who left us in 2014 December 19, 2014 This year has had its fair share of disasters – from the Co-op’s continued struggles to Tesco’s melting share price. But what of the people behind the stories? We’ve got the best, worst and most surprising people moves of the year. 1. Philip Clarke makes an unceremonious departure from Tesco Clarke stepped down at [...]
Christmas 2014: Amazon delivering until December 24, while Marks & Spencer, House of Fraser and Asos face capacity problems December 16, 2014 Worried you've left it too late to order Christmas presents online? You need to get your skates on if you want to avoid paying for special delivery, but some retailers are offering premium services up to the last minute. A new survey of retailers has found a number of businesses that promise to deliver [...]
New Look’s turnaround man quits March 6, 2014 NEW LOOK chairman Alistair McGeorge, credited with driving the fashion retailer back into profit, is stepping down. McGeorge joined the firm three years ago from Matalan and guided the firm through last year’s £800m bond issue, enabling it to get back into the black. “It’s the right time to seek new challenges,” he said yesterday. [...]
7 UK retail bosses that have quit unexpectedly February 24, 2014 Mothercare’s future on the UK high street looked promising when Simon Calver, the former head of online movie rental service Lovefilm, was appointed by chairman Alan Parker two years ago to lead its turnaround efforts. The board banked on his online experience to overhaul its estate and turn the chain into a multi-channel retailer. But [...]
Asda boss Andy Clarke’s 4 top leadership tips | City A.M. February 6, 2014 Speaking last night at the British Retail Consortium’s Future Retail Leader’s event, Asda chief executive Andy Clarke gave an account of his journey to the top – starting with the day he left school with just one O Level in English at 15. Realising he had spent too much time on the rugby pitch in [...]