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 [...]
Retail insolvencies set to surge as Budget bites, experts warn December 30, 2024 A wave of insolvencies could be coming to the retail and hospitality sectors next year as businesses crumble under the tax bill brought on by Labour’s Budget, bosses have warned. Insolvencies and restructuring could rise further over the start of 2025 as firms face increased cost pressures, industry experts have said, with the retail, hospitality [...]
Post-Christmas shopping to rise as bargain-hunters ’emerge’ – analyst December 28, 2024 Post-Christmas shopping is expected to pick up on Friday after data showed there were fewer consumers hitting the high streets for Boxing Day bargains. By midday on Friday, footfall at shops across the country was eight per cent higher than the same day last year, according to retail analysts MRI Software. It follows refreshed figures [...]
Drop in Boxing Day footfall ‘signals return to declining pre-covid levels’ December 27, 2024 The slump in the number of people heading to the shops during Boxing Day sales signals a return to declining pre-pandemic levels, an analyst has said. Boxing Day shopper footfall was down 7.6 per cent from last year across all UK retail destinations up until 8pm, MRI Software’s OnLocation Footfall Index found. However, this year’s [...]
UK retail sector faces mounting pressures after Budget, warns Begbies Traynor December 27, 2024 UK retailers in critical financial distress has surged by more than 25 per cent, marked by weaker-than-expected retail sales and Budget uncertainty