Toasting a deal: Bollinger takes stake in wine merchant backed by Michael Spencer May 30, 2019 Champagne house Bollinger has snapped up a minority stake in a UK fine wine merchant backed by City grandee Michael Spencer. Societe Jacques Bollinger (SJB), the family group behind one of France's most prestigious champagne firms, is understood to have acquired a minority stake of up to 10 per cent in BI Wines & Spirits [...]
City fintech Yapily scores $5.4m from Transferwise founders and Localglobe May 30, 2019 London fintech startup Yapily has closed $5.4m (£4.3m) in seed funding from King’s Cross-based venture capital firm Localglobe and HZ Holtzbrinck Ventures. Other investors included Transferwise co-founders Taavet Hinrikus and Ott Kaukver, and C-suite executives from Twilio and Unicredit. Read more: Transferwise is Europe's most valuable fintech at $3.5bn Yapily will use the funding to [...]
Shop price inflation gathers pace in May May 29, 2019 Shop inflation edged up this month, as rising costs from wages, taxes and political uncertainty drove non-food retailers to push up their prices during May. Following several years of deep discounts, goods in sectors such as furniture and health & beauty have seen year-on-year prices to May 2019 jump, according to a new index carried [...]
High street stalwart Boots mulls more than 200 possible store closures May 28, 2019 Boots, Britain’s largest chain of chemists, looks set to become the latest victim of high street turmoil as its US owner eyes several hundred store closures. Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), the pharmacy retailer's US parent, is reportedly looking at bringing down the shutters on more than 200 Boots outlets across the UK over the next [...]
Fashion retailer Select launches fresh attempt to rescue business May 28, 2019 Administrators at Select have launched proposals for a controversial insolvency process as the troubled women’s fashion group battles to stay in business. Creditors are set to decide whether or not to trigger a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) on 11 June, with administrators warning that a vote against a CVA would mean the company could stop [...]
Jack Ma’s Alibaba chases ‘$20bn Hong Kong float’ May 28, 2019 Alibaba is seeking to raise up to $20bn (£15.8bn) in a Hong Kong float, it is reported. Read more: DEBATE: Does Jack Ma deserve criticism for backing the ‘996’ working week? The listing would be its second after a 2014 $25bn initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange. The online retail and cloud [...]
Sports Direct HQ sold to Malaysian pension fund for £120m May 28, 2019 Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct has confirmed the freehold sale of its headquarters to a Malaysian pension fund. The sportswear retailer, which will continue to occupy the building on a 15-year lease, said this morning that it has sold its logistics centre to Kwasa Logix Sportivo for more than £120m in cash. Read more: Debenhams versus [...]
Greggs shares are on fire, but can it last? May 24, 2019 By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. After some great results, shares in fast-growing Greggs have taken just seven months to double in value. Thanks to a social media frenzy and masterclass in PR, the Greggs vegan sausage roll is now surely a thing of stock market folklore. The transformation of the Greggs (LSE:GRG) brand and [...]
Online clothes shopping helps UK retail sales beat economists’ expectations in April May 24, 2019 Online clothes purchases and warm weather helped UK retail sales beat economists' expectations in April, official statistics showed today. Read more: Bank of England upgrades UK economy growth forecast Britons bought 5.2 per cent more goods in April than in the same month a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures, released today, [...]
Mothercare’s annual loss jumps to £87m, delayed annual results reveal May 24, 2019 Mothercare’s annual loss grew to £87.3m in the last financial year it said today in a delayed set of annual results. The struggling retailer was due to report its results yesterday, but pushed back its report to today because of the “complexity” of its finances, sending shares down 5.2 per cent. Sales fell 7.9 per cent to [...]