Toshiba chief executive Hisao Tanaka to resign after accounting scandal July 21, 2015 The chief executive of Toshiba has said he will resign after the Japanese electronics giant "did a Tesco", overstating its profits by $1.2bn (£780m) over a seven-year period. Hisao Tanaka and Norio Sasaki, a former chief executive of the company who is now vice chairman, said they will step down. A panel tasked by the [...]
Retail veteran Browett joining Octopus board as non-executive July 19, 2015 Retail guru John Browett has been appointed to the board of fund manager Octopus Investments as non-executive director. Browett, best known for heading Dixons Retail for five years between 2007 and 2012, is currently the boss of homewares store Dunelm. He also had stints as chief executive of Monsoon Accessorize, boss of Tesco’s online arm [...]
Marks & Spencer leading the FTSE losers: Why clothing boss John Dixon’s departure gives M&S two major headaches July 17, 2015 Marks & Spencer is leading the FTSE 100 losers this morning, after it confirmed its executive director of general merchandise John Dixon had quit. M&S' share price opened down, and has continued to tumble throughout early trading. At pixel time, itwas down 1.3 per cent. When Dixon took up the role in [...]
Sports retailer defies odds to increase sales July 16, 2015 SPORTS Direct managed to shrug off a year of bad press surrounding its use of zero-hours contracts, as well as England’s early exit from the World Cup, to increase revenue and profit in the 12 months to April 2015. Group revenue rose by 4.7 per cent to £2.83bn, from £2.71bn in 2014, helped by its [...]
Google share price rises as chief financial officer Ruth Porat enjoys better than expected earnings July 16, 2015 The figures Google beat earnings expectations in its latest financial results with earnings of $6.99 (£4.48) a share, but overall revenue of $17.73bn came in below analysts' forecasts. Read more: Google could make joint bid for Tesco unit Excluding the cost to acquire traffic, Google's revenue in the second quarter rose 13 per cent to [...]
Sports Direct share price falls despite revenue rising 4.7 per cent July 16, 2015 The figures Shares in Sports Direct fell 0.48 per cent to 731p per share in early morning trade. The company said group revenue rose 4.7 per cent to £2.83bn in the year to April 2015, from £2.71bn in 2014. It was helped by its "sports retail" and "brands" sectors, which rose 5.5 per cent and [...]
Hotel Chocolat co-founder Angus Thirlwell on how he built a chocolate empire July 12, 2015 Europe is awash with chocolatiers and the British consumer is spoilt for choice. So the idea that someone could set up a chocolate company with £10,000 and take it from startup to a market-conquering beast in just a decade seems a little far fetched. But that is what Angus Thirlwell and his business partner Peter [...]
Dunelm shops at Go-Ahead for finance chief July 9, 2015 HOMEWARE group Dunelm has appointed the finance chief of transport group Go-Ahead to take up the same role as it reported better than expected fourth quarter sales. Keith Down, who joined Go-Ahead four years ago and has also held senior roles at Tesco and JD Wetherspoon, will take over in September, replacing David Stead, who [...]
Eagle Eye wins Sainsbury’s vouchers deal July 7, 2015 EAGLE Eye Solutions, a retail and hospitality voucher firm backed by Sir Terry Leahy, saw shares jump 7.3 per cent yesterday after striking a deal with the ex-Tesco boss’s former supermarket rival Sainsbury’s. The company, which floated on Aim last year, will handle all of Sainsbury’s digital offers and vouchers using its so-called AIR platform, [...]
July Budget 2015: Liberalised shopping on Sundays will deliver big benefits to the consumer July 7, 2015 The liberalisation of Sunday trading hours, expected to be announced in the Budget today, is a timely response to the way in which Sundays have changed in the 21 years since shopping hours were last reformed in 1994. Sundays remain a day of leisure for most of us, and our leisure time is enriched by [...]