Marks & Spencer cuts 950 jobs as pandemic accelerates transformation plan July 20, 2020 Marks & Spencer (M&S) announced this morning that it will cut 950 jobs as it accelerates its transformation plan during the coronavirus pandemic. The retailer announced today that it will create a new retail management structure, which will affect 950 roles across central support functions and property and store management, in the latest blow for [...]
M&S set to announce hundreds of UK job cuts this week July 20, 2020 Supermarket giant Marks and Spencer (M&S) is set to announce plans for hundreds of job cuts later this week, according to reports, as the retailer undergoes a wide-scale restructure in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. M&S will begin announcing redundancy plans over the next few days, which are expected to run into their thousands [...]
Revenue soars at Ocado during lockdown July 14, 2020 Retail sales for the first half of 2020 for online grocer Ocado jumped 27 per cent to £1bn, as Brits did their supermarket shopping from home. The group reported a loss before tax of £40.6m in the six months to the end of May, citing an increase in investment to handle increased demand as a [...]
FTSE 100 falls as coronavirus cases overshadow Sunak stimulus July 9, 2020 The FTSE 100 lost one and a half per cent today as fears over a continued rise in coronavirus cases offset chancellor Rishi Sunak’s £30bn of extra financial firepower. The UK index initially barely moved after yesterday’s 0.55 per cent drop, which left it at 6,156 points. By 4pm today the FTSE 100 had fallen [...]
The Friday interview: Gary Boom on wine, trading and virtual tastings July 3, 2020 Nothing has been immune from the disruption wrought by Covid-19 and the wine industry is no different. City A.M. talks to BI Fine Wine chief Gary Boom about Bordeaux tastings, the wine industry and the value of an alternative asset class. “Here’s your routine when you start: it’s nine o’clock first tasting, with seven wines. [...]
Exclusive: Elixirr seeks London IPO to end coronavirus drought June 19, 2020 Management consultancy firm Elixirr, whose clients have included Barclays, O2 and RBS, is seeking a London IPO, ending a two-month drought in flotations on the London Stock Exchange. Elixirr will seek a listing on London’s junior AIM exchange this summer, City A.M. can reveal. The company, founded in 2009, plans to go on an equity-funded [...]
Boohoo set to swoop for bankrupt Oasis and Warehouse June 16, 2020 Online fashion giant Boohoo is set to announce the purchase of high street brands Oasis and Warehouse, which went bankrupt at the end of April. Sky News reported that the deal could be announced tomorrow when Boohoo releases its first quarter results. When the two brands collapsed into administration on 30 April, with 1,803 redundancies, [...]
Kurt Geiger to donate first month of post-lockdown store profit to NHS June 11, 2020 Kurt Geiger will donate all of its store profit from the first month of trading after the coronavirus lockdown eases to the NHS. The shoe seller plans to open 24 of its 57 outlets across the UK on Monday. This will start with smaller stores which cater to a higher proportion of click-and-collect sales, as [...]
Ocado shares slide on plans to raise £1bn amid coronavirus online boom June 11, 2020 Ocado shares fell this morning after the announcement that it plans to raise £1bn to help it capitalise on the online grocery market boom triggered by the coronavirus crisis. The British online supermarket and technology group said yesterday that it would raise about £657m through an equity placing and retail offer, and about £350m through [...]
Airlines, a bakery and a football club claim BoE coronavirus cash June 4, 2020 Famous UK and foreign firms from across the economy have turned to the Bank of England for coronavirus loans, official figures have shown, with companies from John Lewis to football club Tottenham Hotspur selling the bank their bonds. German chemicals company BASF is currently the biggest borrower on the Bank’s covid corporate financing facility (CCFF), [...]