Heineken’s biggest-ever price rises fail to stop slash in UK profit August 27, 2024 Heineken’s biggest-ever price rises in the UK failed to stop its profit being slashed during its latest financial year as it battled “economic volatility”. The Edinburgh-based division raised its prices in 2023 as it faced “significant inflationary pressure on input costs”, reducing consumer spending, higher labour costs and rising energy bills. According to newly-filed results, [...]
Hamleys: World’s oldest toy store closes 40 loss-making shops as sales fall August 27, 2024 Toy retailer Hamleys is hoping a new digital strategy will help turn around its falling sales after closing 40 loss-making stores last year. The brand’s holding company has reported a revenue of £51.4m for 2023, according to newly-filed accounts with Companies House, down from the £56.6m it posted for 2022. Over the same period, its [...]
FTSE 100 reshuffle: Burberry and Easyjet set to be downgraded August 23, 2024 FTSE 100 constituents Burberry and Easyjet are expected to be eliminated from London’s main market next month during a reshuffle. The main market’s quarterly rebalance is due on 20 September, with the review being based on prices at close on 3 September. Easyjet managed to claw back into the FTSE 100 in March, but the [...]
Ted Baker seller in the red as jobs cut and stores closed amid focus switch to Suit Direct August 23, 2024 A group which sells Ted Baker clothes across the UK slumped into the red as it significantly restructured itself to focus on its Suit Direct brand. As part of the move, Baird Group disposed of its license to sell Ben Sherman clothes, closed unprofitable stores, cut more than 100 jobs and appointed a new chief [...]
Why are convenience stores all the rage? August 22, 2024 Earlier this week, Waitrose became the latest UK grocer to announce a big push into the convenience store market. The supermarket giant will open 100 stores in the next five years as part of a $1bn investment plan. Waitrose follows Asda, Morrisons (with its McColl’s estate), Tesco, Sainsbury’s and the Co-op in ploughing ahead with [...]
Hilltop Honey secures £10m boost as it plans overseas expansion August 22, 2024 Hilltop Honey has secured a £10m banking package from Santander UK as the brand looks to gain the financial support it needs to expand globally. The banking package includes stock finance, FX facilities, invoice finance and term loan refinancing and is designed to help the start-up accelerate its growth on a global scale. It comes [...]
JD Sports: FTSE 100 retailer beats analyst predictions in a ‘volatile’ market August 22, 2024 JD Sports has reported good global sales growth in the second quarter of 2024, smashing analysts’ expectations and leading to the share price rising by over six per cent in early trades. Like-for-like sales at the FTSE 100 firm rose 2.4 per cent in the 13 weeks to 3 August 2024 or 0.7 per cent [...]
Mark Kleinman: Britain’s fibre infrastructure proves hard to digest August 22, 2024 Mark Kleinman is Sky News’ City Editor and the man who gets the Square Mile talking in his weekly City A.M. column. Today, he looks at the UK’s altnet sector, a jilted housebuilder and Thames Water’s leaky boardroom. Britain’s fibre infrastructure proves hard to digest Time to hang up? That’s the way many investors feeling about [...]
Growth in food retail at highest in two years thanks to summer finally arriving August 21, 2024 After a damp start to summer, till sales growth boomed in July to record the strongest growth for food retail in two years. Total till sales at UK supermarkets grew 5.5 per cent in the four weeks ending 10 August 2024, up from 3.6 per cent in the previous month, according to fresh data by NIQ. [...]
Claridge’s Hotel: Major expansion helps sales and profit surge at five-star London icon August 21, 2024 Sales at Claridge’s Hotel surged by more than 20 per cent in 2023 thanks to a “strong” recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and the completion of a major expansion project. The five-star London hotel has reported a turnover of £119.3m for its latest financial year, up from the £98.1m it achieved in 2022. According to [...]