Greene King’s £723m gets it into the Spirit October 20, 2014 BREWING giant Greene King has raised its bid for pub chain Spirit Pubs after its previous offer was rebuffed. Spirit said its board is likely to recommend Greene King’s higher £723.3m bid, which values Spirit at 109.5p per share – a 20 per cent premium to the stock’s closing price on Friday. “The board of Spirit [...]
Fenwick boosts board with Alastair Kerr and Christine Cross October 19, 2014 Fenwick, the family-owned department store chain, has bolstered its board by hiring two retail heavyweights, Alastair Kerr and Christine Cross, as non-executive directors. Cross spent the biggest part of her career at Tesco, where she held a string of senior non-food retailing roles between 1989 and 2003 under Lord MacLaurin and Sir Terry Leahy. She [...]
Fashion rocked as warm weather cools footfall on the high street October 19, 2014 Footfall across UK high streets and shopping centres fell in September as the balmy weather put shoppers off stocking up on autumn/winter clothing, despite a pick-up in activity on the previous month. Visitor numbers dropped by 0.9 per cent in the year to September but improved slightly on the 1.1 per cent decline reported in [...]
Jimmy Choo to be priced at 140p a share October 16, 2014 ALL EYES will be on how shares in Jimmy Choo trade today as they make their debut on the embattled London stock market. Jimmy Choo is expected to launch its flotation share price at 140p, putting its value at £546m instead of the hoped for £700m. Meanwhile, Virgin Money, the challenger retail bank, is still [...]
Kingston’s Bentall Centre up for grabs with £200m-plus price tag October 16, 2014 Bentall shopping centre in Kingston upon Thames has been put up for sale after one of its owners appointed advisers to sell its 50 per cent stake, with a price-tag of around £200m. It is one of the busiest malls in Greater London, with 700,000 square feet of space and 14m visitors a year from [...]
Carnage on the trading floor as FTSE dives 2.8pc – London Report October 15, 2014 BRITAIN’S top share index yesterday plummeted to a 15-month low, with cyclical stocks such as commodities and banks falling on fears of weakening global growth and drugmakers slipping on AbbVie’s decision to reconsider its $55bn (£34.5bn) takeover of British rival Shire. The FTSE 100 ended 181.04 points, or 2.8 per cent lower at 6,211.64, the [...]
Aldermore pulls IPO citing “deteriorating global markets” October 15, 2014 Challenger bank Aldermore has pulled its IPO, citing “the recent deterioration of global equity markets”. City A.M. reported the company was on the brink of rowing back on its plans last night. The flotation, which would have valued the company at £800m, had been hit by choppy and volatile markets, combined with a [...]
Amazon debuts same-day pick up service at 500 newsagents, corner shops and London Tube stations October 14, 2014 Online retail giant Amazon will this morning announce a same-day pick-up service in partnership with Connect Group’s newspaper and magazine distribution arm, Smiths News. The service will let customers order goods from Amazon as late as 11.45am for collection at one of 500 newsagents or corner stores from 4pm later that day. “This is our [...]
Aldermore IPO on the brink October 14, 2014 The flotation of Aldermore, the challenger bank focused on small business lending, was on the brink of collapse last night. Aldermore, which is trying to raise funds in the market at the same time as the retail challenger bank Virgin Money, has faced a tough time during its marketing period. Demand has been [...]
Amazon unveils plans for 1,000 new warehouse jobs in the UK October 13, 2014 AMAZON is planning to hire 1,000 more staff to work at its distribution centres across the UK. The permanent staff will be based at Amazon’s centres in Doncaster, Dunfermline, Gourock, Hemel Hempstead, Milton Keynes, Peterborough, Rugeley and Swansea Bay over the coming months. The hiring spree will add to the 6,000 existing staff working at [...]