British beauty: THG bags makeup retailer Cult Beauty for £275m August 4, 2021 Digital brands group THG has bought British makeup retailer Cult Beauty for £275m, which has bolstered the group’s brand offering by a further 200. THG, which already owns Eyeko and Illamasqua, will also bag the online beauty retailer’s 1.7m customers and 1.6m Instagram followers – which prove to be quite the acquisition when dealing with [...]
Online shoppers help Joules return to profit with £122m e-commerce sales August 3, 2021 Joules has returned to profit after online sales contributed to full-year revenues climbing to almost £200m. The fashion and homeware retailer reported group revenue increased by 4.3 per cent to 199.million despite lockdowns forcing stores to shut for periods and cancellations of the brand’s country shows. Online sales were up by 48 per cent to [...]
Greggs bakes in recovery as chain plots high street expansion August 3, 2021 Greggs appears well set for expansion after a sustained recovery in sales as coronavirus restrictions have eased. The British bakery and fast-food chain made £55.5m in pre-tax profit in the first half of 2021, compared to a pre-tax loss of £64.5m in the same period last year. Total sales amounted to £546.2m. The increase in [...]
Decentralized finance surpasses 3 million users ahead of major Ethereum upgrade August 2, 2021 CryptoCompare’s data shows that the price of Bitcoin (BTC) went sideways throughout the week, starting at around $38,000 and dropping to a $36,000 low before surging and testing the resistance at $42,000, which it failed to break through. Ethereum’s ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, moved in a similar way throughout the week, from [...]
Jack Dorsey’s Square to snap up Australian rival Afterpay for £21bn August 2, 2021 Payments firm Square is set to snap up buy now, pay later company Afterpay for some £21bn, in the biggest buyout of an Australian firm to date. Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, who also co-founded Square, said that the payments company and Afterpay have a “shared purpose”. The deal will peg the merging companies as a [...]
UK jobs market recovery accelerates on better than expected consumer spending August 2, 2021 The UK jobs market recovery is accelerating as a stronger than expected rebound in consumer spending is encouraging firms to take on staff, according to new figures released today. Research published by Lloyds Bank shows the proportion of UK businesses expecting to ramp up hiring rose to 18 per cent, a sixth consecutive monthly increase [...]
Boohoo chief summoned to US court to explain ‘fake’ sales promotions claim July 31, 2021 The head of online fashion retailer Boohoo has been summoned to give evidence in a US court over allegations that the company promoted fake sales to attract customers. Mahmud Kamani will give evidence to a Los Angeles court remotely on or before 15 August in a four-hour deposition. Boohoo is accused of tricking customers into [...]
Morrisons takeover could trigger breakup, analysts warn July 31, 2021 Analysts have warned that British supermarket chain Morrisons could be broken up if it is taken over by buyout firms. Analysts at Bernstein said they “struggle to see” how Morrisons’ assets would not be stripped if the takeover proceeds at the current or a higher offer price. Read more: Morrisons: Singapore’s wealth fund GIC joins [...]
Pound on track for best week since December July 30, 2021 Pound sterling hovered near a one-month high against the dollar on Friday and was set to register its strongest week since December 2020. The reopening of the UK economy has fuelled consumer spending, while a drop in Covid cases over the last week has improved investor sentiment. Read more: Euro 2020 pushes retail sales above [...]
Sports Direct owner Frasers Group set for ‘upbeat’ update after reopening stores July 30, 2021 An “upbeat” trading update is reportedly expected from Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group, which owns Sports Direct, in the hope that the reopening of high street stores have pushed up sales The retail giant was more cautious in its outlook in April despite the reopening of retailers across the UK. It warned it could take a [...]