London’s new issues market is thawing, but slowly February 22, 2013 Not so long ago I asked an investment banker in London how long he and his colleagues had deliberated before deciding to float a Salford-based materials technology company called Luxfer in New York. “About 30 seconds,” he said, quickly and pointedly. But then this was October last year and the new issues market in London [...]
Tesco voted worst supermarket in survey of 11,000 UK shoppers February 21, 2013 TESCO has been voted the worst of Britain’s nine major supermarkets in a poll carried out by one of the leading consumer groups. More than 11,000 Which? members rated the supermarkets with customer scores based on customer satisfaction and the likelihood they would recommend it to a friend. Tesco, the UK’s largest supermarket group, came [...]
FTSE pauses for breath beneath the 6,300 mark February 11, 2013 BRITAIN’S FTSE 100 was lifted yesterday by strength in energy stocks and food retailers, but the index was still struggling to break through the four-and-a-half year highs hit at the start of February. London’s blue chip index gained 13.13 points, or 0.2 per cent at 6,277.06, holding within the 70-point range of the last five [...]
Supermarket Ocado edges towards profit February 7, 2013 ONLINE grocer Ocado yesterday narrowed year-end losses from £2.4m to just £600,000 as it edged ever closer towards profitability, easing the concerns of long-suffering investors. Shares in the company, which has not made a profit since it began trading thirteen years ago, yesterday closed up 11 per cent at 115.9p. This is still well below [...]
Analyst views | Are you happy with Ocado’s results? February 7, 2013 PHILIP DORGAN PANMURE GORDON 2012 was another difficult year for Ocado. It failed to deliver accelerated sales growth and it needed to raise money… The debate now moves on to whether its assets are attractive to either M&S or Morrison and, if so, at what price? DARREN SHIRLEY SHORE CAPITAL Ocado’s 2011/12 preliminary results came [...]
Fat Face hires Sir Stuart Rose February 3, 2013 SIR Stuart Rose, the former boss of Marks & Spencer, has been appointed as chairman of clothing brand Fat Face, less that two weeks after being named as the new chairman of online grocery firm Ocado. Sir Stuart will take the helm at the private equity-owned group in July, replacing Alan Giles, who will step [...]
Ocado to reveal its progress on road to profits February 3, 2013 OCADO will be in the spotlight this week as the online grocer reveals whether it is edging closer to making a profit. The firm has recently hired Sir Stuart Rose as chairman and is also gearing up to open a second distribution warehouse in Warwickshire. Ocado, which was founded in 2000, is yet to go [...]
The trusted brand with personality at its core February 3, 2013 YOU may have seen Clippy McKenna’s eponymous preserves on your supermarket shelves. Her two-man show (it is just Clippy and fiancé Paul Gorman working at the business; everything else, including the actual jam-making, is contracted out) now stocks its products in some of the biggests stores – including Tesco and Harvey Nichols. After graduating as [...]
Boss at Punch trades pints for Greggs pasties January 24, 2013 PUNCH TAVERNS boss Roger Whiteside will give up happy hours for elevenses when he becomes the new chief executive of bakery chain Greggs next month. Whiteside, who has been a non-executive director at Greggs since 2008, will succeed Ken McMeikan on 4 February, the firm said yesterday. McMeikan, who drove the government to retreat on [...]
Wandisco leads the way for UK technology flotations January 24, 2013 We have already seen the likes of Luxfer, Edwards and Manchester United list in New York when they might have been expected to grace the London flotation markets. Now there are rumblings that Intelligent Energy, a clean energy technology, might look overseas for a listing if it chooses to go for one. And my fellow [...]