Will Trump tariffs end up helping Next, M&S and Dunelm? April 8, 2025 UK heavyweights who aren’t exposed to the US market, like Next and M&S, may end up seeing some silver linings from Trump’s tariffs, according to analysts. Only a few UK retailers – namely JD Sports, Doc Martens and Burberry – sell to the states and produce in eastern Asia. Berenberg analysts said that positives from [...]
UK retailers claw back losses as wave of selling turns to opportunistic buying April 7, 2025 Heavyweight UK retailers clawed back some of their losses on Monday afternoon as the morning’s sell-off turned to buying. The FTSE 350 general retail index had dropped by as much as four per cent in early trades, but later stabilised to minus 2.8 per cent. Even UK retailers with very little presence in the US, [...]
Mark Kleinman: Britain should steel itself for unwanted status among G7 April 3, 2025 Mark Kleinman is Sky News’ City Editor and the man who gets the Square Mile talking in his weekly City AM column Britain should steel itself for unwanted status among G7 nations Sajid Javid, Greg Clark, Andrea Leadsom, Kemi Badenoch and now Jonathan Reynolds: the list of business secretaries handed the assignment of salvaging Britain’s fast-disappearing steel industry [...]
Boohoo rebrands as Debenhams in shift to a marketplace model March 11, 2025 Boohoo will rebrand to Debenhams as it shifts to a marketplace model to house its brands in the first phase of its turnaround plan. Shares in the company dropped just over three per cent on the news. The Manchester-based company has been struggling with low sales for its youth brands—Boohoo, PLT, and MAN—posting a pre-tax [...]
M&S to invest £95m in staff pay despite higher wage taxes March 5, 2025 Marks and Spencer will invest £95m into higher pay for its retail staff, despite “cost pressures” from the government. From 1 April, the rate of pay for UK Customer Assistants will increase from £12 to £12.60 per hour, up five per cent year on year and up 26 per cent since 2022. It is higher [...]
‘First of its kind’ sustainable skyscraper gets green light from City of London February 11, 2025 Planning permission for an innovative 33-story tower at the old headquarters of M&S has been approved by the City of London Corporation, the latest in a string of top-quality skyscrapers approved in the capital. The building at 70 Gracechurch Street, originally constructed in 1990s as the headquarters for Marks and Spencers, will deliver over 550,000 [...]
Retailers unite to warn Treasury on ‘perfect storm’ of costs February 11, 2025 A heavyweight group of retailers has warned the Treasury that hundreds of thousands of jobs are at risk in the retail sector due to unsustainable cost hikes this year. It’s the latest in a long string of warnings from the retail sector, which has been vocal about the coming damage to jobs and investment on [...]
M&S revamps leadership team in next chapter of transformation February 7, 2025 Marks and Spencer has announced significant changes to its non-food leadership team as it enters the next phase of its turnaround project. Clothing and home director, Richard Price, will be replaced by ex-Boohoo CEO, John Lyttle. Lyttle headed Boohoo for five years, but left last Autumn amid claims of “corporate espionage”, with allegations he was [...]
John Lewis misses festive sales target as turnaround falters January 31, 2025 Sales at John Lewis are reported to have fallen short over the key Christmas trading period as middle-class Brits increasingly switch to shops like Marks and Spencer. According to reports from the Daily Telegraph, sales at Waitrose similarly missed targets. The employee-owned John Lewis Partnership (JLP) blamed “lower consumer confidence and weaker than expected market confidence” for [...]
Pembroke VCT boss Andrew Wolfson: ‘New founders aren’t blaming Brexit’ January 30, 2025 Pembroke VCT boss Andrew Wolfson has backed brands like TALA and Pasta Evangelists. He tells us the wisdom he's picked up along his career.