BHS parent Retail Acquisitions appoints property consultants to “review” store portfolio March 18, 2015 Retail Acquisitions has appointed property consultants to review BHS' 171-strong store portfolio, as the new owner gets to grips with its loss-making business. BHS had already taken the decision to shut its Oxford and Foss Park stores ahead of Sir Philip Green's sale of the business, and these will close their doors “in the coming [...]
Sainsbury’s says fightback plan paying off March 17, 2015 SAINSBURY’S chief executive Mike Coupe said the supermarket chain was seeing “some signs of recovery” after launching a £150m fightback plan last year, despite underlying sales falling for the fifth quarter in a row. Like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, fell by 1.9 per cent in the 10 weeks to 14 March, its final quarter, with sales [...]
Sorrell sets sights on Club Card company as WPP empire grows March 17, 2015 ADVERTISING firm WPP confirmed yesterday that it would be submitting a bid to buy a majority stake in data analysis company Dunnhumby. Chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell confirmed WPP’s intention to take the consumer insight firm off Tesco’s hands at the Deloitte Media and Telecoms conference. Sorrell is said to be interested in Dunnhumby as [...]
FTSE rises ahead of Osborne’s pre-poll Budget – London Report March 17, 2015 BRITAIN’S top share index edged higher yesterday to extend a recent rebound from last week’s lows, with gains coming in ahead of key policy announcements from the UK and the US. The FTSE 100 rose 0.5 per cent to 6,837.61 points, as shares of natural-resources producers ticked up and utilities pushed higher, led by a [...]
Why Engawa is an unusually well thought-out restaurant March 17, 2015 In Japan, the fax machine is still king of the office. While the western hemisphere abandoned it at the first whiff of email, the Japanese persevered, appreciating the personal touch that comes from a hand-written note, even if that note has been broken down into a series of blips and hisses and reassembled somewhere far [...]
Sainsbury’s share price dips despite sales falling less than expected March 17, 2015 The figures Shares in Sainsbury's were trading down 1.1 per cent at 265 pence per share in late-afternoon trade today. They had initially opened more than two per cent higher this morning. The supermarket announced like-for-like retail sales including fuel fell 3.9 per cent in the 10 weeks to 14 March on price deflation and greater [...]
Tesco share price slides as Sir Martin Sorrell confirms WPP’s Dunnhumby interest March 17, 2015 Sir Martin Sorrell, the boss of the world’s largest advertising group WPP, has confirmed the company is interested in buying Tesco’s data arm Dunnhumby. Speaking at the Media & Telecoms conference in London, Sorrell said he was interested in the business behind the supermarket’s Clubcard loyalty scheme which was essentially put up for sale in [...]
BHS confirms new chief executive is Darren Topp as the retailer makes transition to new owners March 17, 2015 BHS has confirmed Darren Topp as its interim chief executive, following the departure of long-standing head Richard Price. Topp has been at BHS for six years, and steps up from his current role as chief operating officer with immediate effect. The change at the top comes just days after the department store chain [...]
FTSE boosted by miners on good Chinese figures – London Report March 16, 2015 BRITAIN’S top share index rebounded yesterday after its biggest weekly drop of 2015, with mining stocks boosting the market on expectations of steady economic growth in China, the world’s biggest metals consumer. The FTSE 100 closed 0.9 per cent higher at 6,804.08 points after dropping 2.5 per cent last week in what was its biggest [...]
Tesco share price spikes as Dunnhumby sale speculation mounts March 16, 2015 Tesco shares spiked four per cent in afternoon trading amid mounting speculation of a potential sale of its lucrative data business Dunnhumby. A deal, which could be worth as much as £2bn to the supermarket according to analysts, is moving ahead, with WPP and a host of private equity firms vying for the data company [...]