Cinch sales drop below £1bn after ‘rapidly falling’ used car prices January 3, 2025 Sales are car retailer Cinch dipped below £1bn after the company was hit by “rapidly falling” used vehicle prices. For the 12 months to 31 March, 2024, the Hampshire-based firm posted a revenue of £932.5m, down from the £1.01bn it achieved in the prior year. Newly-filed accounts with Companies House also show that its pre-tax [...]
Mortgage approvals fall faster than expected in wake of Budget January 3, 2025 65,700 mortgages were approved in November, down from 68,300 in October and comfortably below economists' expectations.
Crown Paints: Losses double as more jobs lost amid DIY downturn January 3, 2025 Crown Paints saw its pre-tax loss more than double as it shed further jobs despite sales rising, it has been revealed. In delayed accounts, the Lancashire-headquartered firm has reported a pre-tax loss of £16.1m for 2023. The figure comes after Crown Paints made a pre-tax loss of £8m in the prior 12 months. However, the [...]
Not-so-golden quarter: Retail footfall slumps in another disappointing year January 3, 2025 A dull December marked the end of yet another “disappointing” year for UK retail footfall as fresh data has revealed 2024 was the second year in a row to see a decline. According to recent Sensormatic data by the British Retail Consortium, UK footfall fell by 2.5 per cent year-on-year during the three months to December, [...]
Watchfinder continues in the red as sales tick below £100m January 2, 2025 Watchfinder continued to make a heavy loss during its latest financial year as its sales dipped below the £100m mark. The London-headquartered business, which sells second-hand watches, has reported a pre-tax loss of £12.6m for the 12 months to 31 March 2024. The figure comes after the firm also lost £12m in the prior year. [...]
Dairy giant Muller loses over £65m after Milk & More sale January 2, 2025 The UK and Ireland arm of dairy giant Muller slumped to a huge loss despite its sales rising by more than £100m, it has been revealed. The Shropshire-headquartered division of the German group fell to a pre-tax loss of £65.3m for 2023, delayed accounts show. The loss comes after the business also made a pre-tax [...]
Record profit for Totally Wicked ahead of single-use vapes ban as sales double in two years January 2, 2025 Profit at Totally Wicked has surged to a new record level ahead of the sale of single-use disposable vapes being banned in England and Wales later this year. The Lancashire-headquartered has reported a pre-tax profit of £8.1m for the 12 months to 31 March, 2024, up from the £3.3m it posted for the prior year. [...]
Retailers get festive boost as more people head to shops January 2, 2025 There was an increase in the number of people who headed to the shops in December amid fears retailers face uncertain times after the festive season, analysts say. The 7.1 per cent increase in footfall in December from November is the greatest month-on-month rise since an 8.7 per cent jump was recorded in the same [...]
Thames Water to avoid state bailout, the FTSE 100 at 7900 and an ITV bid: my predictions for UK plc in 2025 January 2, 2025 Predictions may generally be a mug’s game, but looking back at my forecasts for the business world in 2024, I seem to have fared better than usual. Klarna, the buy now pay later giant, opted for a New York listing; Dame Alison Rose made a comeback in a senior private equity role; Unilever announced that [...]
IAG, Rolls-Royce and Natwest: The FTSE 100’s winners of 2024 December 31, 2024 The FTSE 100 returned 5.8 per cent in 2024, but under the surface, a clear gap has emerged between the blue-chip index’s winners and losers. Quite a few stocks have fallen out of London’s main index, with companies like Burberry and Ocado being replaced by giants like Games Workshop and Alliance Witan. While around half [...]