Punch Taverns more than halves yearly losses November 12, 2015 Pub group Punch Taverns, owner of around 3,500 pubs nationwide, has narrowed its yearly losses by over half to £105m, from £240 million a year earlier. Refinancing of debt with a charge of £166m and the falling value of its real estate was mostly to blame. Shares in the pub company have fallen today by [...]
A conscious decoupling: Paperhat Group CEO Tim Peppiatt talks CGI, direct mail and building wraps November 8, 2015 They used to have to cut the roof off, but when you see a car seat in a sports car advert, it's likely to be CGI," says Paperhat Group chief executive and founder Tim Peppiatt. "They reproduce the same leather and stitching using the same wire frame used to build the vehicles in the factory. [...]
Pure Gym speeds up £20m makeover of former LA Fitness sites November 5, 2015 Budget gym operator Pure Gym is flexing its muscles and speeding up £20m plans to revamp the 43 LA Fitness sites it acquired this summer. The chain, which beat off competition from rivals including Sports Direct to buy LA Fitness for an estimated £70m, has already refurbished and reopened three sites in Brighton, Bedford and [...]
Rangers chairman Dave King defends £7.5m annual loss November 4, 2015 Rangers chairman Dave King insists a £7.5m loss revealed in the club's annual accounts does not reflect improvements made by the consortium that took control in March. The leaders of the Scottish Championship revealed that the company requires "up to £2.5m by way of debt or equity funding" by the end of the season to meet [...]
James Haskell interview: England flanker will help RFU England Rugby World Cup review but is concentrating on Wasps Premiership duties October 20, 2015 As the England rugby chiefs investigate the team’s pool stage exit at its home World Cup and pundits lament the northern hemisphere’s failings in recent weeks, James Haskell says his attentions are set firmly in the opposite direction. The Rugby Football Union is seeking input from players in its review into how the Red Rose [...]
Peeple, the controversial human-reviewing app, has the right idea. Let’s start rating one another constantly October 15, 2015 Peeple, the controversial new rating app that’s been dubbed “Yelp for people”, launches this week amid concerns that giving star ratings to fellow human beings is unethical, creepy and will render us all vulnerable to a horrifying new realm of online abuse the likes of which the internet has never seen. Which is all well [...]
Black Friday 2015 UK date and deals: The best offers to expect on 27 November, plus who were the winners and losers from last year October 14, 2015 Black Friday is less than seven weeks away – it falls on 27 November this year – and already consumer sites are full of predictions for which deals we'll be falling over ourselves (and other people) to pick up in 2015. We spent £810m last year, with John Lewis celebrating its biggest sales week of [...]
From London property and Tesco to Sports Direct and haunted houses: Here’s what got us talking this week October 9, 2015 It was a week in which plastic bags suddenly became the big new commodity, Google became free to be evil and somewhere lurking in your neighbourhood, proof of "ghost-free" houses became a thing. Here's what got us talking 1) We nailed the property conundrum We don't like to brag but we may have finally found the [...]
Sports Direct chief executive Dave Forsey charged over USC administration on same day staff win legal battle over redundancy pay October 9, 2015 A government agency has charged Sports Direct chief executive Dave Forsey over criminal offences regarding the company's handling of the administration of chain USC. The UK Insolvency Service has started criminal proceedings against the retail boss for “an offence contrary to section 194 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992,” it told City A.M. This [...]
USC workers win case against Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct October 9, 2015 Workers at fashion chain USC that was put into administration by parent company Sports Direct earlier this year have won a legal battle against the firm, giving them redundancy pay that could run into thousands of pounds each. Staff had complained that they were given just 15 minutes notice before they lost their jobs. In [...]