Mike Ashley wants you to know something about his Agent Provocateur takeover March 7, 2017 Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley's recent foray into frilly knickers may have raised eyebrows – but he wants you to know it wasn't just him who bought the lingerie retailer. In a statement today, Sports Direct clarified the £30m acquisition was made by Four Holdings, a company in which it owns a 25 per cent [...]
Supermarket sales grew at their fastest rate since June 2014 in the last 12 weeks March 7, 2017 Supermarket sales were growing at their fastest rate since June 2014 over the past three months as inflation started to bump up prices for key items such as tea, butter and fish. According to data from Kantar Worldpanel, supermarket sales grew by 2.3 per cent year-on-year for the 12 weeks ending 26 February. Kantar said [...]
Retail sales fell in February as non-food retail sales decline for first time since 2011 according to early indicator March 7, 2017 Retail sales fell in February as non-food purchases recorded their first quarterly decline in more than five years, a survey ahead of official data shows. Like-for-like sales fell by 0.4 per cent compared to February 2016, according to the retail sales monitor reported by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG, despite food sales rising [...]
Most entertainment is consumed online through access services and is not owned outright March 7, 2017 Britons now spend almost 80 per cent of their total expenditure on entertainment online and are increasingly consuming it via access services such as Spotify and mobile apps like Pokemon Go. Data from the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA), which represents retailers and digital services offering music, video and games, shows that 27.6 per cent of [...]
TfL just came a step closer to building 400 homes in Kidbrooke March 6, 2017 One of the capital's largest housing associations will help Transport for London (TfL) build 400 new homes on a former RAF base in South East London TfL named Triangle London Developments – a consortium comprised of Notting Hill Housing and U+I – as the partner which will develop homes on a four-acre site close to [...]
Which stock market sectors will benefit as inflation heats up? March 6, 2017 We wrote last year about our expectation that inflation would soon start to re-emerge in Europe, and that banks were likely to be among the chief beneficiaries. This scenario has indeed come to pass, perhaps even more quickly than we had anticipated. With signs of inflation becoming ever more apparent, which other sectors should investors [...]
Agent Provocateur founder Joe Corre: My brand was “dropped like a pair of dirty knickers” March 6, 2017 Agent Provocateur co-founder Joe Corre has branded the £30m sale of the lingerie retailer “a scandal on many levels”. Corre, the son of iconic fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, said his brand was “dropped like a pair of dirty knickers”. Agent Provocateur was put up for sale by 3i in January. Last week, administrators Alix Partners sold the [...]
Turnaround plan looks set to pay off for Morrisons March 5, 2017 The turnaround at Morrisons supermarkets headed by CEO David Potts looks set to gather speed this week as the company reports its best annual results in six years. The chain is likely to report a 54 per cent rise in pre-tax earnings to £335m on Thursday, according to predictions by banking firm Jefferies. The firm [...]
John Lewis employee bonuses set to take a hit March 5, 2017 Employees of the John Lewis Partnership can expect their annual bonuses to shrink this year. Bonuses are unlikely to be higher than six or seven per cent of income when the company releases full-year results on Thursday, according to sources close to the situation. This is down from to a 10 per cent bonus last year. The [...]
Fat Face adjusts debt as profits come under pressure March 5, 2017 British clothes retailer Fat Face has negotiated easier debt terms after its profits slumped due to the weakened pound. In a full year report posted on Friday, the company's directors confirmed that they had completed a “covenant reset” to an external financing agreement to secure greater “headroom”. They said this was a direct result of [...]