Rose leaves M&S as new era begins January 4, 2011 SIR Stuart Rose said farewell to Marks & Spencer (M&S) yesterday, drawing to a close a colourful six years at the helm of the retailer. He formally hands over the reins of chairman to former City banker Robert Swannell today. Sir Stuart, 61, was hailed as an inspiration after steering M&S to a £1bn profit, [...]
Britain’s best drafted in to run Whitehall December 15, 2010 THE Cabinet Office yesterday published a list of top business leaders who have been appointed as non-executive directors to sit on Whitehall boards. The appointments are designed to ensure the government operates in a more business like manner and are the brainchild of Cabinet office minister Francis Maude and Lord Browne, the recent author of [...]
Tablets are this year’s turn-on for gadget lovers December 8, 2010 TECH TALK The must-have present this year is a tablet. If you can’t afford an iPad an Android is arguably much better value. Are tablets sexy? I suppose they are if you can watch certain movies. But which blue tablets are the best? The Binatone HomeSurf 8 Touch Tablet is an eight incher. The similarities [...]
In English for the first time, read The Truth About IKEA November 17, 2010 WITH an insider’s knowledge, Johan Stenebo’s controversial book is a remarkable, personal view inside a company that overtook Argos as the UK’s largest home furnishings retailer in 2009 but, after 67 years, only disclosed its profits for the first time last month (worldwide net profit £2.2bn in the year to 31 August 2009). In these [...]
Focus owners seek financial help or a sale October 31, 2010 THE owners of the UK’s fourth-largest DIY chain Focus are looking to investment bankers to advise on the future of the heavily debt laden business, which could lead to a sale. US based private equity firm Cerberus is taking advice from Lazard on the future of Focus, and is in talks with its banks about [...]
Home Retail hit as Argos sales dented October 20, 2010 HOME Retail Group yesterday said that cash-strapped customers were abandoning its cut price retailer Argos as sales dopped. The company, which also owns Homebase, revealed that its overall profit had dropped 12 per cent to £103m in the six months to 28 August. A plunge in demand for furniture, video games and televisions contributed to [...]
Home Retail Group October 20, 2010 Home Retail Group attempted to put a shine on some fairly grim – if expected – figures yesterday by claiming its Argos iPhone app had been a storming success. However, the truth is that sales at its cut price chain dropped by six per cent. This is made all the more worrying by the fact [...]
Home Retail hit as shoppers cut back October 20, 2010 Home Retail posted an expected 23 per cent fall in first-half profit as cash-strapped low-income shoppers trimmed their spending. The firm, which owns Argos and DIY business Homebase, said it made an underlying pre-tax profit of £95m in the six months to 28 August. That was in line with company guidance of a 20-25 per [...]
FTSE 100 bounces back after a strong performance from the financial sector October 18, 2010 Britain’s top shares rebounded yesterday after falls in the past two sessions, boosted by oils and banks, with better-than-expected results from Citigroup and hopes of more US economic stimulus improving sentiment. The FTSE 100 index ended 39.15 points, or 0.7 per cent, higher at 5,742.52 after falling last Thursday and Friday. The index is up [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS September 14, 2010 HOME RETAIL GROUP Nomura has downgraded its rating on Home Retail Group to “reduce”, citing its Argos business. The broker says Argos’ product and demographic problems outweigh its core competitive advantage. The Argos business model is not broken but falling margins, low growth and a lack of product emphasis, in the broker’s view, limit the [...]