Thousands of stores fall off high street as retail woes worsen November 9, 2018 Fresh evidence of the retail woes facing Britain’s shopkeepers emerged this morning, with more than 2,500 stores vanishing from the high street over the first six months of this year. Some 14 stores have closed every day in the first half of 2018, as stiffer competition and higher costs make the retail struggle for survival [...]
Former Vitality boss picks up £3m from Zoopla backer Localglobe November 8, 2018 Transferwise, Citymapper and Zoopla backer Localglobe will today reveal its latest investment into Yulife, a lifestyle insurance and rewards startup founded by Sammy Rubin, the former chief executive of insurance giant Vitality Life. Fintech investor Anthemis and Ourcrowd also joined the round, with AIG coming on board to underwrite all policies. Launching today in the UK, [...]
Boohoo shares soar as sales nearly double after “exceptional performance” from PrettyLittleThing November 6, 2018 There may be ongoing high street pain for a number of retailers, but online troubles are few and far between for fashion chain Boohoo. It hailed "an exceptional performance" from PrettyLittleThing, which it has been integrating into the Boohoo group, while its acquisition of US fashion label Nasty Gal exceeded estimates in its first year. [...]
Going it alone: Tech giants to be hit by UK digital services tax October 29, 2018 Technology giants operating in the UK will be served with a narrowly-targeted digital services tax, chancellor Philip Hammond announced today. With consultations to occur before the tax goes live in April 2020, the chancellor said the move is to ensure "the UK continues to be the best place in the world to start and scale [...]
Retailers, don’t blame poor sales on the weatherman October 29, 2018 In the longstanding narrative of the “death of the high street”, analysts point in all directions to identify the causes of changes in customer spend in any given period. And, in true British fashion, one problem that is given a lot of attention is the weather. The weather is somehow both the cause and the [...]
Asos appoints ex-Britvic finance chief as new CFO October 23, 2018 Asos today appointed Britvic chief financial officer Mathew Dunn as its new CFO. The exact start date is yet to be announced, though the online retailer has said that Dunn will join the firm in spring 2019, leaving Britvic to take on the role. Read more: Shares in Asos soar on news of boosted profits and revenue [...]
Shares in Asos soar on news of boosted profits and revenue October 17, 2018 Shares in online fashion giant Asos soared 15 per cent this morning as it revealed profits were up 28 per cent and sales grew by 26 per cent during a "record year" of investment. Revenue at the retailer was £2.4bn in the year to August 2018, up from £1.9bn in the previous year, while profit before tax grew from [...]
Menswear styling tech startup Thread raises $22m October 16, 2018 Fast fashion startup Thread will today announce the close of its series B funding round at $22m (£16.7m), which includes backing from Balderton Capital, Beringea and H&M’s investment arm H&M Co:Lab. The round will also be complemented by a crowdfunding raise on Crowdcube later this year, providing everyday investors access to shares in Thread on [...]
Why technology won’t transform every brand’s Fashion Week October 15, 2018 Now that this year’s Fashion Weeks in London, Milan, New York, and Paris have all come to a close, many people are questioning the role of a runway show in today’s age, and whether it could be brought into the twenty-first century. Some brands are embracing the latest technology to satisfy modern consumer demands by making [...]
Asos teams up with Google to launch a shopping skill for Google Assistant October 11, 2018 Asos is expanding into voice-assistant technology in a partnership with Google, making it one of the first UK fashion retailers to debut on Google Assistant. Customers in the UK and US will be able to engage with Asos' fashion chatbot Enki, starting a conversation using the phrase "Hey Google, talk to Asos" on a smartphone or [...]