Foxtons will take ‘all necessary steps’ to stay in business amid coronavirus outbreak March 20, 2020 Foxtons issued a trading update this morning advising that it will take “all necessary steps” ahead of the “inevitable material disruption to trading in the coming months.” The estate agent reassured investors that the first 11 weeks of the financial year had been in line with expectations but warned that the “significantly weakened economic outlook” [...]
Frasers Group: Mike Ashley’s firm issues profit warning amid ‘significant disruption’ caused by coronavirus March 20, 2020 Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has issued a profit warning this morning citing the “significant disruption” to business. Formerly Sports Direct, the retailer will no longer give guidance in relation to the current financial year. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the firm has seen reduced customer footfall to its brands’ stores, which includes House of Fraser, [...]
Government would be ‘very unwise’ to ignore Huawei rebels, says David Davis March 10, 2020 The government would be “very unwise” to ignore Conservative rebels on Huawei, even if Downing Street wins today’s key vote, David Davis has warned. Speaking just hours before MPs debated an amendment designed to force the government’s hand on 5G, banning it from using “high risk vendors” after 31 December 2022, the former Brexit secretary [...]
FTSE 100 reshuffle: The five stocks at risk of falling out of London’s blue-chip list March 2, 2020 Supermarket chain Morrisons, B&Q owner Kingfisher and travel agent Tui are among the companies at risk as the FTSE braces for a reshuffle this week. The next quarterly shake-up is due to be announced on Wednesday, based on closing prices tomorrow. NMC Health, which is facing a probe into its finances by the City watchdog [...]
Waitrose ranked best UK supermarket in annual Which survey February 22, 2020 Waitrose has been ranked as the best supermarket in the UK in an annual satisfaction survey conducted by Which. The chain, which is owned by John Lewis, hit five stars on most categories, but did come joint-last in value for money. Budget supermarkets Aldi and Lidl continue to be ranked highest in terms of value. [...]
Tesco ‘unlawfully’ blocked rivals from opening nearby stores, CMA finds February 14, 2020 Tesco has been told to stop illegally blocking rival supermarkets from buying its land or leasing nearby sites by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). An investigation from the competition regulator found that Tesco had blocked access to rivals using restrictive contracts on 23 occasions. The UK’s biggest supermarket chain has agreed to take action [...]
Cabinet reshuffle live: Chancellor resigns over turf war with No 10, as PM shakes up top team February 13, 2020 This is a live blog, please hit refresh to update 6pm – Live blog wrap Well, that’s your lot for today – at least, in terms of this live blog. My colleagues will be picking up on the rest of the appointments this evening and tomorrow. It was quite a day – certainly more of [...]
M&S bolsters menswear team after skinny jeans fiasco February 12, 2020 Marks & Spencer (M&S) has appointed a new menswear buying director, after the retailer’s Christmas sales were dented when it ordered too many skinny jeans in the wrong sizes. M&S chief executive Steve Rowe has been battling to turn the clothing and home division around, but total revenue slumped 3.7 per cent in the third [...]
How should Waitrose move on as Ocado deal comes to an end? February 12, 2020 Supermarket chain Waitrose has announced an overhaul of its products and a new advertising campaign to retain customers this summer when its deal with delivery provider Ocado comes to an end. Ocado’s partnership with Waitrose comes to an end in August, and a new deal with Marks & Spencer will be delivered shortly after. As [...]
Ocado falls to £215m loss after Andover warehouse fire February 11, 2020 Online supermarket Ocado fell to a £214.5m loss last year, which the company blamed on a huge fire which burned down one of its warehouses in Andover last February. The figures Group revenue rose 9.9 per cent in the year, up from £1.6bn in 2018 to £1.8bn this year. This was largely driven by 10.3 [...]