City Moves: Who is switching jobs in the Square Mile this week? March 17, 2021 Snakes and Ladders provides a roundup of the most important hires and job moves across the City, every Wednesday afternoon. Email citymoves@cityam.com to be featured. IoD appoints new chair The Institute of Directors (IoD) has appointed a new chair after a thorough search process, who will step into the role next Monday. Patrick Macdonald is set to take [...]
Shakespeare: So far, consumers remain on John Lewis’ side March 17, 2021 Retailer John Lewis has announced hundreds of jobs are at risk as the brand considers the permanent closure of more department stores following the “economic earthquake” of the Covid-19 pandemic. Staff were already told earlier this year that there would be no annual bonus this year. The chairwoman of the John Lewis Partnership, Dame Sharon [...]
Baroness Helena Morrissey quits St James’s Place to become AJ Bell chair March 16, 2021 Baroness Helena Morrissey has stood down from her role on St James’s Place’s board to become chair of investment platform AJ Bell. Baroness Morrissey will succeed Les Platts as AJ Bell’s chair at the company’s next annual meeting in January 2022. In the meantime, she join the board as chair designate in July 2021. Baroness [...]
More than half of UK spending now online after pandemic, says Lloyds Bank March 15, 2021 More than half of all UK spending has now shifted online thanks to the Covid pandemic and physical payments have shifted one kilometre closer to people’s homes, according to Lloyds Bank. A new study by the bank also found that ATM and branch withdrawals plummeted by 33 per cent over the past year. Debit card [...]
Oxford Street: This is what the UK’s shopping destination could look like after lockdown March 11, 2021 Oxford Street – the world famous shopping destination that attracts millions of Londoners and tourists every year – is set to look drastically different when the city emerges from the latest coronavirus lockdown. An arts centre, 25 metre artificial hill and play areas in bus lanes are among the ideas that have been floated to [...]
Marks & Spencer adds new brands to make clothing offer more relevant March 11, 2021 Marks & Spencer has launched a range of guest fashion brands as part of its attempt to make its clothing business more relevant and to “turbocharge” online growth. The retailer announced today that it has partnered with clothing brands including Hobbs, Joules and White Stuff, which will be marketed under its “Brands at M&S” banner. [...]
Next snaps up stake in womenswear brand Reiss for £33m March 10, 2021 High street giant Next has acquired a stake in womenswear retailer Reiss for £33m. The fashion firms this morning announced that Next will purchase a 25 per cent equity stake in Reiss. Warburg Pincus, Reiss’s private equity owner, said the deal values the company at around £200m. As part of the strategic partnership, Reiss will [...]
UK regulators unveil ‘joined-up’ approach ahead of Big Tech crackdown March 10, 2021 Three major UK watchdogs have outlined their “joined-up” approach to digital regulation this morning as authorities prepare to crack down on Big Tech. The Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DCRF), which includes Ofcom, the Competition Markets Authority (CMA) and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), today unveiled its first annual plan for co-ordinating new regulation across online [...]
Zara owner Inditex posts 70 per cent drop in net profit during pandemic March 10, 2021 Zara owner Inditex this morning posted a 70 per cent drop in net profit after a year of trading restrictions and weak demand during the coronavirus pandemic. The European retail giant said profit last year fell to €1.1bn, a steeper drop than anticipated, due to the impact of store closures during global Covid-19 lockdowns. Total [...]
Pandemic wipes almost £1bn off Covent Garden landlord Capco’s portfolio March 9, 2021 West End landlord Capital & Counties suffered a sharp drop in its property values last year, wiping almost £1bn of its portfolio. Capco, which owns Covent Garden, reported this morning that its total property value last year was £1.9bn, down from £2.8bn in 2019. The total property value of Covent Garden fell 27 per cent [...]