WH Smith is the UK’s worst high street store, say shoppers May 29, 2019 WH Smith is the worst of all UK high street stores, according to a survey of British shoppers published today. Read more: Ranked: The top 15 retailers to work for The stationery provider got the worst rating of 100 retailers, with just 50 per cent of customers expressing satisfaction based on factors such as quality of [...]
ii Winter Portfolio doubles after fifth market-beating year May 22, 2019 After an amazing fifth winter, our portfolio almost doubles in value and beats all the global indices, proving that international investors are wrong to ignore UK stocks. It also proves it is possible to time the market. Five years ago, our interest was piqued by a stock market phenomenon that promised consistent market-beating returns year [...]
British competition watchdog to probe JD Sports’ £90m Footasylum merger May 17, 2019 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating JD Sports' merger with Footasylum, it confirmed today. JD Sports recently completed the acquisition of Footasylum in a deal worth £90m. Read more: Thomas Cook shares crash as investors urged to sell Both JD Sports Fashion and owner of Footasylum, the Pentland Group, have been issued with an initial [...]
Marks and Spencer will shut seven stores for the final time as part of a wider restructuring May 4, 2019 Marks and Spencer will shut down seven more stores today as part of its long-term plan to close 100 by 2022. It will bring the total number of stores closed to 47 as the high street retailer adapts to consumer's changing habits. The department store chain is ending its association with town centres across the UK and [...]
ii winter portfolios extend outperformance in March April 17, 2019 There are fewer star performers in this year's Aggressive Winter Portfolio – that was until March when no less than three of the five constituents each gained around 8%. Ignore Mark Twain and Benjamin Disraeli, statistics demonstrate that some stocks do far better during the winter months than others. And the stats are backed up [...]
JD Sports shares rise as retailer bucks high street woes to boost profit and revenue April 16, 2019 JD Sports’ shares jumped today as it bucked the trend of struggling high street retailers to boost profit and revenue. Executive chairman Peter Cowgill credited the shoe and fashion store’s focus on remaining relevant to its millenial and Generation Y consumers for its success, saying the firm is “obsessed” with its customers. Shares rose 7.6 [...]
Best 25 stocks in the last tax year April 15, 2019 By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. The FTSE 100 outperformed mid-caps last tax year, but the top FTSE 350 performers might surprise you. Take a look at the financial year ended on the 5th April, with the 25 top performing stocks in the FTSE 350 all producing gains of 40 per cent or more over the [...]
The founder of Boxpark on making a modern market out of a shed, selling Boxfresh, and hiring a Michelin star chef April 15, 2019 For an industrial-looking shed, there’s something strangely inviting about this giant black and white box next to Wembley Stadium. Having opened its doors in December last year, this is Boxpark’s third site, and it’s also the largest, taking up 20,000 square feet of space. It’s essentially a stripped-back leisure centre – long tables are lined [...]
Death of the High Street? Why we’re still backing UK retail April 9, 2019 Following some dire headlines you might rightly wonder why the share prices of UK retailers have recorded double-digit gains this year (see graphic, below). Surely the relentlessly downbeat mood music from the mainstream media (and pessimism among analysts) is confirmation that the UK consumer is in full retreat, and consumer-exposed sectors are in deep trouble? [...]
JD Sports buys Footasylum in £90m deal weeks after saying it would not bid for the firm March 18, 2019 JD Sports will buy footwear retailer Footasylum for £90m, the companies announced this morning a month after JD increased its stake to 19 per cent. The 82.5p per share offer values Footasylum at a considerable mark-up to its 46.5p closing price on Friday. Shreas soared 75 per cent to 81.5p this morning. Read more: Footasylum shares [...]