ScS Group ends talks to buy Sofa.com leaving Mike Ashley in the driving seat February 1, 2019 Home furnishings retailer ScS Group said today it had ended talks with furniture retailer Sofa.com, leaving the way clear for Mike Ashley who is reportedly putting together a multi-million pound bid. ScS said today it is “no longer in discussions regarding a potential acquisition of the business and assets of Sofa.com”. Sky News reported that Ashley, [...]
Amazon presents a mixed bag to investors after record holiday sales January 31, 2019 E-commerce behemoth Amazon predicted lower-than-expected revenue for the current quarter tonight, despite reporting record sales for its busiest period of the year. Revenue for the three months to 31 December rose 19.7 per cent year-on-year to hit $72.4bn (£55.1bn), boosted by events such as Black Friday and Christmas and topping consensus estimates of $71.9bn as polled [...]
Let’s go: AO World’s chief executive departs with founder returning to the role January 31, 2019 Electrical retailer AO World said today that its chief executive Steve Caunce is stepping down as chief executive and from the board with immediate effect. He is being replaced by the company’s founder John Roberts who was chief executive until February 2017 when he was replaced by Caunce. The company said that Caunce had “decided to [...]
The Beatles’ last message from Savile Row is being echoed by today’s bespoke tailors January 30, 2019 Exactly 50 years ago today the Beatles sang together for the final time. On the rooftop of the Apple offices at 3 Savile Row, they set up a surprise live concert that lasted 42 minutes before the police intervened. After one last rendition of “Get Back”, the band called it a day, bowing out of [...]
City Moves for 30 January – who’s switching jobs at Wesleyan, Horizon and Winckworth Sherwood? January 30, 2019 Who’s on the move today? Wesleyan Wesleyan, the specialist financial services provider – provides specialist financial advice and solutions to doctors, dentists, lawyers and teachers – has appointed Mario Mazzocchi as its new chief operating officer (COO). Mario previously spent 15 years with Lloyds Banking Group, most recently as COO for the Insurance and Wealth [...]
Apple sales come to the fore as big tech firms brace for crunch results January 29, 2019 Silicon Valley will be preparing for market instability this week as several members of the so-called Faang grouping gear up to report quarterly results for the recent festive period. Three members of the big tech club – which includes Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google – will publish figures amid rising speculation that their time [...]
What are the UK’s most shorted stocks? January 29, 2019 Hedge funds made millions from short-selling Carillion shares after the construction firm collapsed a year ago. That’s hardly a surprise, but what’s telling is that many short-sellers were predicting its failure even before the company issued its first profit warning back in July 2017. Short-sellers borrow shares from other investors, typically large institutions like pension [...]
Oddbins owner appoints administrators with hundreds of jobs at risk January 28, 2019 The owner of wine retailer Oddbins is preparing to appoint administrators for the second time in less than a decade. European Food Brokers, which owns subsidiaries Wine Cellar Trading and Whittalls Wine Merchants, said it has filed a notice of intent to appoint Duff & Phelps as administrators to fix an insolvency, Sky News reported tonight. EFB, [...]
A tie-up with Ocado could signal a long overdue step into food delivery for M&S January 28, 2019 If 2018 was the year of profit warnings for retailers, 2019 looks set to be the year of closures. Last week it was the turn of Paperchase to be reportedly mulling a possible sale and store closures, joining the likes of HMV and French Connection in search for a rescue bidder. It is within such [...]
Ocado and Marks & Spencer see shares rise on reports of food delivery partnership January 28, 2019 Shares in Marks & Spencer and Ocado were up this morning following reports the firms are in talks over a possible food delivery partnership. Ocado and Marks & Spencer saw their shares rise five per cent and one per cent respectively in early trading after it emerged the retailer could sign a deal to use [...]