M&S to open 150 new food stores creating over 5,000 new jobs October 22, 2013 Retailer Marks & Spencer has announced plans for 150 new franchise and owned UK Simply Food stores in the next three years in order "to further enhance its specialist food positioning and reduce drive times to access M&S Food". Roughly half of those stores will be of around 2,000 square feet and operated in convenience [...]
Equistone fancies French pudding maker October 21, 2013 EQUISTONE, the private equity house founded by ex-Barclays buyout executives, has taken a bite out of a French luxury pudding maker that supplies tasty treats to M&S and McDonalds. The outfit, led by managing partner Guillaume Jacqueau, has bought a majority stake in French dessert conglomerate Europeenne des Desserts (EDD) for an undisclosed sum. The [...]
Bolland loses key womenswear buyer from M&S October 20, 2013 MARKS and Spencer confirmed yesterday that one of its key womenswear executives has resigned, delivering a further blow to the chain as it attempts to repair its struggling clothing division. Gillian Ridley Whittle, development and buying director for womenswear plans to leave in six months to join Australian department store group Target. Her departure comes [...]
Public expect rate hike within two years as Bank’s Dale says one may come in 2014 October 17, 2013 The proportion of the public expecting a rise in interest rates has increased significantly according to a new poll by Markit. The poll conducted by Ipsos-MORI between 11-14 October found that 69 per cent of people asked expected rates to rise within two years, a 14 percentage point rise from the previous poll in August. [...]
Profile: Christopher Bailey October 15, 2013 WHEN Christopher Bailey emerges onto the catwalk at the end of a Burberry fashion show, the audience erupts with loud applause. However yesterday’s share price fall following his appointment as both chief executive and chief creative officer suggested a less warm reception. The 42-year-old Yorkshireman, who was described by outgoing Burberry boss Angela Ahrendts yesterday [...]
Brand Index: There’s still time for M&S’s autumn range to blossom October 15, 2013 LAST week Marks & Spencer’s general merchandise arm was dealt a blow when a number of respected analysts warned that it is continuing to lose market share in women’s fashion, leading to a fall in its share price. Autumn sales figures won’t be released until next month, but if the naysayers turn out to be [...]
Marks & Spencer chief heads charge against EU regulations October 14, 2013 BUSINESS leaders will this morning set out 30 EU regulations that they believe should be scrapped in order to help the British economy, in a boost for Prime Minister David Cameron’s plan to renegotiate a new relationship with Brussels. The business taskforce, headed by a team including Marks & Spencer chief executive Marc Bolland, was commissioned by the [...]
City Index hires chairman as it rejigs managers October 14, 2013 CITY Index, the spread betting group two-thirds owned by Michael Spencer of Icap, is bringing in an executive chairman to try to improve its performance and to focus more on international expansion. The group is hiring Mark Preston, a banking industry specialist, who quit Lloyds Bank before its ill-fated merger with HBoS. Preston will work [...]
UK tangled up in 13m words of EU red tape October 13, 2013 BRITISH businesses have been hit with more than 3,500 new European Union rules since David Cameron came to power, according to figures released today that set out the enormous impact of the Brussels bureaucracy on UK companies. Despite the coalition’s commitment to cutting red tape, since May 2010 there have been 13m extra words of [...]
Land Securities sells RBS offices on the South Bank for £315m October 10, 2013 LAND SECURITIES has sold Royal Bank of Scotland’s flagship offices on the South Bank to M&G Real Estate in a £315m deal. The FTSE 100 landlord said yesterday it has exchanged contracts to sell Bankside 2&3, which are let to the bank until 2027. The 380,000 square feet offices, which sit next to the Tate [...]