Fat Face boss keeps the float dream alive July 9, 2014 FAT FACE chief executive Anthony Thompson would not rule out a second attempt at listing shares in London yesterday, just weeks after market nerves forced the retailer – whose casual clothes are modelled above – to abandon plans for a £300m-plus flotation. Thompson said the firm would have “to see what happens”.
Fat Face puts IPO in past with record sales July 9, 2014 Fat Face said yesterday it had put its botched flotation plans behind it for now and that it was “business as usual” after the retailer delivered record full-year sales and profits. After an impressive start to the year, London’s new issues market balked at the sheer number of companies coming to the market, prompting Fat [...]
City Moves for 10 July 2014 | Who’s switching jobs July 9, 2014 Regis The global property investor has appointed Syd Taylor as its UK-based chief financial officer. Taylor’s 25 years of experience include director level roles with Rockmount Capital, ING Real Estate, Goldman Sachs and Great Portland Estates. Smith & Williamson Peter Mitchell has joined the accountancy and investment management group as head of banking. Mitchell joins [...]
City Moves for 09 July 2014 | Who’s switching jobs July 8, 2014 Universities Superannuation Scheme Jeremy Hill will be returning to the pension scheme trustee company, taking up the role of group general counsel. A qualified solicitor, Hill first worked for the firm between 2009 and 2011. He has previously held leadership roles at Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Merrill Lynch Investment Management, along with positions at [...]
Clipstone IPO to raise £150m July 7, 2014 A LOGISTICS real estate investment trust is seeking to raise an initial £150m in a listing on the London Stock Exchange as it looks to tap into the boom in UK online retailing. Clipstone Logistics Reit confirmed yesterday that £72m of properties would be acquired upon admission, of which the majority were warehouses let to [...]
Employee owned businesses in the UK booming July 4, 2014 The number of employee-owned companies in the UK is on the rise, outstripping growth in all other businesses. According to a recent report, the employee-owned sector grew 10 per cent in 2012, the last period for which figures are available, compared to 3.1 per cent for all businesses. Employee-owned businesses now account for 3 per [...]
Argos offers eBay pickup with click and collect partnership July 3, 2014 Buyers of eBay items will be able to collect more of their goods at Argos stores, after the two companies announced yesterday that they would be significantly expanding their click and collect partnership as the service is rolled out across the UK. The deal will see the click and collect service extended to around 650 [...]
Thorntons share price rise tastes sweet as chocolatier says it will meet earning targets July 3, 2014 Thorntons said yesterday its commercial arm selling chocolates to supermarkets returned to “double-digit” growth in the fourth quarter, making it confident of meeting full-year profit targets. The London-listed chocolatier expects pre-tax profits to leap 51 per cent to £7.1m for the year to 28 June compared with £4.7m a year earlier. Shares rose 8.4 per [...]
Housing market boom helps to boosts demand at Topps Tiles July 2, 2014 TOPPS Tiles yesterday posted a jump in third quarter sales, helped by a buoyant housing market pushing more Britons into upgrading their homes. The tiling specialist, which runs 330 UK stores, said like-for-like revenues rose by 6.3 per cent in the 13 weeks to 28 June compared with a drop of 1.5 per cent in [...]
Exclusive: Shelf Drilling pulls $500m float plan after investors get cold feet July 1, 2014 Oil-rig contractor Shelf Drilling is to pull its plan to float on the London Stock Exchange today, citing insufficient interest to justify proceeding with the sale. Sources close to the deal yesterday told City A.M. the decision was made late last night to cancel the initial public offering, which was set to raise at least [...]