B&M side-steps clouds gathering over retail stocks January 4, 2017 B&M has side-stepped the overall gloom surrounding retail stocks this morning, rising over seven per cent in morning trading after a strong trading update. Other retail stocks – including Marks and Spencer's, Debenhams' and Associated British Foods' – have taken a hit today after Next tumbled 11 per cent at the open. Read more: Next [...]
Retailers’ share prices dragged down as Next sinks January 4, 2017 The retail sector is getting a hammering today after Next posted a sales slide for the Christmas season. Next's share price has tumbled 11 per cent in morning trading, and following it downwards are Marks and Spencer, which has fallen five per cent, and Primark-owner Associated British Foods, which is down 3.84 per cent. Read more: Retailers [...]
Vinyl comeback led by David Bowie helps UK music to vintage 2016 January 3, 2017 The vinyl comeback, David Bowie and streaming helped 2016 become a vintage year for UK music consumption. Industry body the BPI counted a total of 123m album equivalent sales (AES) last year, a 1.5 per cent increase on 2015’s figures. This corresponded to an estimated retail value of £1bn. There were 45bn audio streams served in 2016, [...]
13 events that will change the world in 2017: Article 50, Snapchat’s IPO, more Libor trials and a vote on Heathrow January 3, 2017 2017 looks like it's going to be a busy one: we're looking ahead to some of the key business and political events already pencilled in for this year's calendar. 1. Supreme court to rule on Article 50 The Supreme Court is due to deliver its ruling on Gina Miller's case this month (Source: Getty) The Supreme [...]
Retail cold snap: New Year footfall plummets at Britain’s shopping centres January 2, 2017 The UK high street experienced a sales cold snap at the weekend as new figures showed footfall fell nearly 13 per cent nationwide while in shopping centres it slumped by a massive 50 per cent. Poor weather, an early December spending spree and bank holiday trading hours deterred shoppers from venturing outdoors on New Year’s Day, [...]
New Year’s honours 2017: The full rundown of the business community’s representatives on this year’s list December 31, 2016 The British business community was well represented on the New Years honours list, with entrepreneurs and executives featuring prominently amongst the more than 100 figures recognised for services to the industry and economy. Here's a run down of some the most notable business names who received the official seal of approval this year. Read more: Arise, Dame Inga – Lloyd's of [...]
A sign of things to come? Mortgage approvals fall in November, although consumers are still borrowing at ultra-low rates December 28, 2016 Mortgage approvals are nine per cent lower than the same point last year, but UK consumers were still borrowing to power the economy in the five months after EU referendum. The number of house purchase mortgage approvals fell slightly in November to 40,659, down from 40,835 in October, according to the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), [...]
No tears for Boohoo as it nears $20m acquisition of US firm Nasty Gal’s assets December 28, 2016 Boohoo's share price rose this morning after the online fashion retailer announced it has initially agreed to snap up several assets from US group Nasty Gal for a cool $20m (£16.2m). Joint chief executives Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane said the purchase agreement, which is Boohoo's second acquisition announced this month, is an "ideal next step" [...]
Sports Direct sells Dunlop brand to Japanese buyer for £112m as it refocuses on becoming “Selfridges of sports” December 27, 2016 Sports Direct is selling the Dunlop brand for $137.5m (£112.3m) to Japan's Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) as part of its bid to become "the Selfridges of sports retail". The high street chain is re-focusing on developing its relationship with third party brands and its core UK business and has agreed to sell Dunlop's sporting goods and licensing businesses [...]
Boxing Day footfall slump points to domination of the online retailers December 26, 2016 Boxing Day high street retail sales have fallen sharply year on year as UK shoppers stay at home and push online sales to record heights, according to early data. Half day footfall fell by six per cent compared to Boxing Day last year, according to data from retail monitors Springboard. A decline of 16.6 per [...]