Tottenham Hotspur sponsor Under Armour posts first billion-dollar quarter October 22, 2015 Like many of the athletes who sport its brand, Under Armour has enjoyed a good year after surpassing $1bn in quarterly revenue for the first time. The figures The sportswear retailer posted revenues of $1.2bn (£800m) in its third quarter, a 28 per cent increase on last year's $938m. Under Armour heralded the "game-changing" performance of [...]
September retail sales smash economist expectations paving the way for a record UK Black Friday 2015 October 22, 2015 There was good news for the high street after retail sales surged in September, boosted by the late August bank holiday weekend and beer sales related to the Rugby World Cup. Retail sales volumes jumped by 1.9 per cent on the month, smashing economist expectations of a 0.3 per cent rise, the Office for National [...]
Sense of deja vu engulfs Barclays boardroom over ringfencing waiver October 22, 2015 When George Santayana uttered his famous quote about people who fail to learn from history being doomed to repeat it, he wasn’t thinking about Britain’s banks. Shame: his words might echo pretty loudly around Barclays’ boardroom right now. Little more than three years after the bank’s chief executive fell on his sword and its chairman made way [...]
London Tube strike 2015: This map shows how the strikes hit retail sales October 22, 2015 This summer’s Tube strikes were a headache for more than just frazzled commuters: A new map shows it also changed our shopping pattern dramatically, striking hard against retailers in the city. Using figures on sales transactions made across 10,000 stores across the capital, Applied Predictive Technologies has analysed the effect of the August Tube strike [...]
Black Friday 2015 UK deals: What retailers can expect from the biggest shopping day of the year October 22, 2015 Black Friday is now big news in the UK. Last year according to Barclaycard, more was spent on Black Friday than on any day of last year’s shopping season, making it the biggest spending day on record. Black Friday this year is likely to herald a similar frenzy and signals a change in customer shopping [...]
Debenhams share price rises as chief executive Michael Sharp reveals plan to step down “some time in 2016” October 22, 2015 Debenhams' share price opened up this morning as chief executive Michael Sharp confirmed he plans to leave the struggling department store business “sometime in 2016”. Sharp, who has been at the helm since September 2011, will stay on during Christmas and into the new year to help the board find his successor. “This process will evaluate internal [...]
Mothercare turnaround plan on track despite currency headwinds October 22, 2015 Mothercare's turnaround is on track after a solid second quarter performance, despite challenges from foreign currency headwinds. The childcare retailer, which is part-way through a significant overhaul implemented last year by chief executive Mark Newton-Jones, has grown UK like-for-likes 6.5 per cent, while total UK sales rose 1.8 per cent. Online sales under the former [...]
Argos owner Home Retail Group hits back at claims it could be the next Comet October 21, 2015 Home Retail Group’s boss hit back at claims that Argos was at risk of becoming the next Comet, the collapsed electronics chain, after a profit warning sent shares crashing yesterday. The FTSE 250 retailer, which also owns Homebase, said investment in its new same day delivery service, weak sales of electrical goods, and uncertainty around [...]
Chubby grocer Price leaves Waitrose helm October 20, 2015 Waitrose managing director Mark Price is stepping down from his role at the upmarket supermarket chain amid rumours he is being lined up for the top job at Channel 4. The ebullient 55 year-old, who gave himself the nickname the chubby grocer, will leave in April next year after 33 years at the John Lewis [...]
McColl’s looks to throw away newspapers in food store focus October 20, 2015 McColl’s has put 100 newsagents on the block as it focuses on opening more lucrative convenience stores instead The FTSE 250 retailer, which listed last year, has been steadily converting its newsagents into food and wine outlets at it looks to advantage of the fast-growing convenience sector and lure in higher-spending shoppers. The company said [...]