Marks and Spencer shells out £480m as it revamps UK stores in bid to become leading ‘omnichannel’ retailer January 16, 2023 Marks and Spencer (M&S) is to plough nearly £0.5bn into an accelerated UK-wide investment drive which will result in 20 new larger and improved stores across the UK in the next financial year. The retailer also aims to create over 3,400 new jobs whilst providing shoppers with a “seamless” customer experience. M&S said it was [...]
The Notebook: Reforming the NHS, how the world got rich, and tax breaks for the over-50s January 16, 2023 The notebook is a place for interesting people to say interesting things. Today, it’s the turn of John O’Connell, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance Reforming the NHS no longer so unsayable? As the NHS endures its annual winter crisis – before it moves into its inevitable summer crisis – thousands of doctors are reportedly [...]
Ocado set to post grocery growth in latest festive update January 15, 2023 Ocado investors will be hoping it becomes the latest retailer to indicate that consumer spending over the key festive quarter was more resilient than many expected. The online retail giant is set to post an increase in grocery sales over the latest period when it updates investors on Tuesday 17 January. The firm’s technology operation [...]
British retailers cheer Christmas sales, but City analysts warn of coming storm January 15, 2023 Britain’s largest retailers kicked off 2023 strongly last week, posting better than expected Christmas sales, signalling the consumer is holding up a bit better than feared. Tesco’s like for like sales were 7.9 per cent higher, while Marks and Spencer pocketed a 7.2 per cent rise. Sainsbury’s also posted record Christmas sales. Those bumper numbers, [...]
Debt write-off for Matalan but founder Hargreaves on his way out January 15, 2023 Bruised and battered retailer Matalan is set to tell markets tomorrow it has been rescued by a debt-for-equity swap with its lenders, according to a host of news reports this weekend. Founder John Hargreaves, who founded the fashion firm some forty years ago, is set to lose control of the firm despite his own last-minute [...]
Week ahead: First data dump of 2023 to reveal whether UK tipped into recession January 15, 2023 The first big data dump of 2023 in the coming week is set to unveil more clues on whether the UK economy entered a recession in the final months of last year. City traders are hoping fresh inflation figures out on Wednesday from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) will show price pressures are still [...]
FTSE 100: London edges ever closer to a new record high January 14, 2023 The FTSE 100 fell short of hitting some all-time highs on Friday after a strong start to the year. Pushing up to fresh five-year highs, the FTSE hit its highest score since the record points it had tallied in May 2018. It closed at 7,844.07 on Friday after briefly peaking at 7,864.95 a little earlier [...]
Very: Shoppers splurge on air friers and games consoles, but group sales slide January 13, 2023 Sales at online retailer Very rose 2.2 per cent year-on-year during the busy festive season. Toys, gifts and beauty and home departments were the main beneficiaries of the spending splurge, with sales up 17.7 per cent and 10.2 per cent respectively. Games consoles and Ninja air fryers were the bestselling items during the seven weeks [...]
DFS shares up as sofa giant records rise in orders despite cost of living pressures January 13, 2023 Sofa retailer DFS has recorded a rise in orders over the latest quarter, as it hailed improving demand from customers despite pressures from the rising cost of living. It came as the retailer said that orders dropped 4.8% over the half-year to December 25, compared with the same period last year. However, the company said this included [...]
Probe into Revolution Beauty’s accounts flag ‘concerns’ over £9m sales and personal loans made to employees January 13, 2023 An independent investigation into troubled cosmetics maker Revolution Beauty identified concerns, including over certain historical sales, inventory provisioning methods and personal loans made by a former CEO. The probe was instigated by the company’s auditors BDO last autumn and has already claimed the scalp of former chief executive officer Adam Minto who stepped down from the [...]