Paperchase puts administrators on standby – but ‘interested parties’ in talks January 17, 2023 Stationery outfit Paperchase has put administrators on standby as it scrambles to find new financial backers. Sky News’ Mark Kleinman has reported that Begbies Traynor has been lined up to handle any potential insolvency. The firm has been bruised and battered by the pandemic and changes to the high street, though City sources told Kleinman [...]
Ocado: Annual revenue dives to £2.2bn but up on pre-pandemic level as retailer sees strong festive trade January 17, 2023 Online grocery retailer Ocado saw its revenue dive to £2.2bn in 2022, down 3.8 per cent from the previous year, but up by 40 per cent on pre-pandemic levels in 2019. The online grocery delivery giant managed to claw back some growth with postive Christmas and New Year trading updates. It’s rivals Tesco and Sainsbury’s [...]
Biscuit lovers help lift Fortnum & Mason’s back from the brink January 16, 2023 Fortnum & Mason has returned to profitability following two successive years of losses. The historic British department store and grocer reported an operating profit of £6.1m on sales of £187m when its year ended on 10 July 2022. This marks a dramatic turnaround from the £2.7m loss the luxury food store posted in its previous [...]
Hiring spree: Jaguar Land Rover recruits 81 per cent of tech jobs in UK January 16, 2023 Jaguar Land Rover has gone on a hiring spree in the UK, recruiting 81 per cent of its global positions in Britain. The luxury marque announced today that 280 out of the 300 vacancies currently available are in the UK. This is in addition to the 371 jobs which have already been filled in Britain. [...]
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 [...]