Apple falls out of favour with UK consumers January 15, 2014 Apple has fallen out of favour with UK consumers, losing its coveted spot as one of the UK’s top 10 brands. Last year Apple’s iPad held the No 6 slot on YouGov’s BrandIndex report, but this year the technology giant is nowhere to be found. UK Top Brands 1. BBC iPlayer (no change)2. John Lewis [...]
A DIY investment price war could be on the way January 15, 2014 Imagine if Sainsbury’s or Tesco made you pay to enter their supermarkets and buy their milk and bread, but promised that the milk and bread would be much cheaper than before. That slightly dystopian vision is what occurred to UK money management industry last year, after regulators decided the relationship between suppliers and distributors was [...]
Tulchan’s profit tumbles during a difficult 2013 January 14, 2014 CITY PR outfit Tulchan’s revenues tumbled more than eight per cent to £7.6m during the year to 31 March, after the firm lost clients G4S and Marks & Spencer in 2013. “This past year has been a challenging one for the firm, best characterised as trying to walk up a down escalator,” chief executive Andrew [...]
London Report: Retailers reveal where tills rang for Christmas January 12, 2014 RETAILERS are expected to reveal where UK shoppers showed their Christmas cheer, with a round of results in contrast to last week’s gloomy December tidings. Figures out this week from retailers such as Argos, Asos, Dixons, Ocado and Primark are expected to show increased sales. The successes are in contrast to the sales dips seen [...]
A two-speed high street January 9, 2014 A CLEAR split between Britain’s winners and losers in the battle for consumers’ cash this Christmas emerged yesterday, as three of the biggest retail chains revealed worse-than-expected trading. Poor results from Tesco, Morrisons and Marks & Spencer added to dreary updates from Sainsbury’s and Mothercare, with heavy discounting, weak consumer spending and the rising discount [...]
M&S boss Marc Bolland defends Xmas discounts January 9, 2014 MARKS & SPENCER chief executive Marc Bolland yesterday denied that the retailer had sparked this Christmas’s frenzied discounting as the chain’s clothing sales fell for a 10th consecutive quarter. The high street bellwether said like-for-like general merchandise sales, which include homeware and clothing, dropped by 2.1 per cent in the 13 weeks to 28 December. [...]
Bottom Line: CEO’s survival will depend on a revolution January 9, 2014 YESTERDAY marked a very unwelcome milestone for Marks & Spencer’s boss Marc Bolland. Three-and-a-half years into the job, the former Morrisons chief exec has clocked up his 10th successive quarter of declining clothing sales, leaving investors waiting for his promised turnaround yet again. That they’re giving him more time – as evidenced by yesterday’s 3.6 [...]
London Report: William Hill and retailers weigh the FTSE down January 9, 2014 BRITAIN’S FTSE 100 fell yesterday and underperformed shares in southern Europe, as a rise in the pound against the euro hampered prospects for the index’s exporters and most retailers fell after weak Christmas updates. The FTSE erased gains in the afternoon as the pound rose to its highest in a year against the euro on [...]
M&S Christmas trading blighted as clothes sales continue to fall January 9, 2014 No belated Christmas cheer for Marks and Spencer – the group's just reported that like-for-like sales in the 13 weeks to 28 December were down 2.1 per cent. The quarter, it said this morning, was a challenging one, and performance was below expectations. Sales in general merchandise, which includes clothes, fell for the tenth quarter [...]
M&S investor piles pressure for cash return January 7, 2014 MARKS & Spencer shareholders are putting pressure on the high street retailer to buy shares or increase its dividend, as the City braces itself for a gloomy trading update tomorrow. One top 20 investor told City A.M. “There is some pressure on management somewhat given that we are at the end of the turnaround strategy [...]