Mike Ashley’s USC bought out of administration by… Mike Ashley’s Republic January 16, 2015 Mike Ashley's fast fashion retailer USC has been bought out of administration by… Mike Ashley's fast fashion retailer Republic. A notice of intention to put USC, which was bought out by Sports Direct in 2011, into administration was filed last week, with the threat that the company's 90 stores would shut, putting hundreds of [...]
HMV beats Amazon and reclaims top spot as Britain’s biggest retailer of physical music January 16, 2015 HMV is making a comeback on the high street, reclaiming the top spot as the UK's biggest seller of physical music, with vinyl sales soaring to their highest in over 20 years. Total sales climbed to £365.7m in the year to December, up from £311.2m from the same period the previous year. Like-for-like CD sales [...]
Mike Ashley offers Rangers £10m loan in return for securities on Ibrox January 15, 2015 Mike Ashley appears to have offered flailing Rangers a life-line, but in order to accept the Scottish club's board will have to renege on promises previously made to fans. The Newcastle United owner is ready to provide a £10m loan to the club, but in return will want securities on its Ibrox stadium and [...]
‘Basketball has all the attributes to be Britain’s true second sport’ January 14, 2015 The NBA’s Ben Morel tells Frank Dalleres about their plans to expand in London IF YOU are lucky enough to be among the 20,000 or so witnessing the NBA’s dazzling roadshow tonight at the O2 then you are probably either a celebrity or quick out of the blocks. Tickets for the match between the Milwaukee [...]
Bid to restrict online ticket touts defeated in parliament after government wins vote January 13, 2015 A bid to introduce stricter regulations for online ticket touts whose websites re-sell event tickets failed yesterday, after the government won a vote to overturn it by 289 votes to 204. Last week leading figures in sports, music and theatre wrote an open letter calling for the inclusion of a clause in the consumer rights [...]
Debenhams share price plummets despite online sales uplift January 13, 2015 The figures Shares in troubled department store Debenhams fell nearly eight per cent in mid-morning trading, despite figures published this morning suggesting it had a record Christmas. The retailer said like-for-like sales in the four weeks to 10 January rose 4.9 per cent. Particularly successful were online sales, which went up by 29 per cent. Demand [...]
Music and sports titans call for action against online ticket touts January 11, 2015 Leading figures in sports, music and theatre are calling for the better regulation of websites re-selling event tickets, claiming they simultaneously rip off fans while hurting artists and sports professionals. In an open letter to the government they called for changes to the Consumer Rights Bill, currently making its way through Parliament, which would better [...]
Mike Ashley’s USC goes into administration with hundreds of jobs at risk January 8, 2015 Hundreds of jobs could be lost at Mike Ashley's fashion chain USC after filing a notice of the intention to appoint receivers at the High Court yesterday. A third of USC's 90 stores, which are believed to employ 1,000 staff are set to close. On Wednesday morning, dozens of staff at the USC warehouse in [...]
UK car sales hit 10-year high in 2014: High consumer confidence and boost to industry January 7, 2015 The number of new cars sold in the UK reached a 10-year high in 2014, new figures show. Over the whole of last year 2,476,435 new cars were registered, according to figures released yesterday by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). It was the fourth-best year of all time regarding the [...]
Takeovers kick off with Rangers bid – Editor’s Letter January 5, 2015 Football is a funny old game, and a funny old business too. Yesterday, just as one Glasgow Rangers director made the club a £500,000 emergency loan to keep it in business, the famous old institution became one of the first companies of this New Year to become subject to a City takeover bid. The [...]