Christmas shoppers flock to toy shops ahead of second Covid-19 lockdown November 10, 2020 Toy and entertainment retailers reported a surge in shopper numbers in the days leading up to the coronavirus lockdown, as Brits snapped up Christmas presents ahead of the closure of non-essential stores. The latest analysis showed that toy stores more than doubled their share of pre-pandemic footfall between Monday and Wednesday last week. But one [...]
Wincanton to restart dividend payments on strong outlook November 5, 2020 Logistics firm Wincanton announced that it would restart paying dividends today on top of bullish forecasts for its financial outlook. Although profit shrunk from £26.2m to £19.1m in the first half of the year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the FTSE 250 firm said that it expected its full year results to be “materially ahead” [...]
Snakes and Ladders: Who is moving jobs in the City this week? November 4, 2020 Snakes and Ladders provides a roundup of the most important hires and job moves across the City, every Wednesday afternoon. Email citymoves@cityam.com to be featured. Firms are continuing to adapt to the challenges and opportunities presented by the pandemic as they vie to be in prime position to recover from the economic fallout of the crisis. This week, [...]
Deliveroo taps JP Morgan as it steps up London float preparations November 3, 2020 Deliveroo is said to have appointed bankers at JP Morgan as it steps up preparations for an initial public offering in London next year. The food delivery app has added the Wall Street bank to its line-up of advisers alongside Goldman Sachs, Sky News reported. Deliveroo, which was founded in 2013 by Will Shu, is [...]
Fortnum & Mason hires former John Lewis and Matches Fashion exec as new CEO November 3, 2020 Fortnum & Mason has appointed a former John Lewis and Matches Fashion executive as its new boss. Tom Athron will join the Piccadilly department store on 1 December, to replace current chief executive Ewan Venters who will step down in January 2021. Athron was most recently the chief operating officer of luxury fashion website Matches [...]
John Lewis hints at Christmas advert as retailer launches £5m charity initiative October 31, 2020 John Lewis has hinted at the content of its highly anticipated Christmas advert as it launched a charity campaign to feed more than 100,000 families over the festive period. The department store chain, which also owns Waitrose, will kick start an appeal in November to raise £5m for Fareshare and Home-Start to provide food, support [...]
Sainsbury’s launches partnership with Deliveroo October 30, 2020 Sainsbury’s has launched a trial with Deliveroo in the latest partnership for the delivery app, which has seen demand for groceries soar during the coronavirus pandemic. The supermarket will offer the on-demand delivery service from its North End Crescent convenience story in Hammersmith, before expanding the trial to a further nine branches across the UK [...]
Wines to swap for your Euro faves when No Deal Brexit bites October 28, 2020 With Brexit talks coming to a head, the Great British wine drinking prowess may prove to be a key negotiating tool. Winemakers are lobbying leaders across the Block to soften their stance in face of serious hurdles getting their plonk into our glasses. Currently over £2.2bn of wine is imported into the UK from the [...]
John Lewis to convert almost half of Oxford Street store into offices October 28, 2020 John Lewis has been given the green light to convert almost half of its flagship Oxford Street department store into office space amid turmoil for the UK’s retail sector. Westminster City Council last night granted the high street store conditional planning permission to transform three to eight floors into dual-use space. The local authority voted [...]
British Airways ends in-flight food partnership with M&S October 26, 2020 British Airways today confirmed that it is set to end its three-year partnership with M&S to provide food on short-haul trips for economy-class passengers. A spokesperson for the airline confirmed the move: “We proudly launched our buy-on-board catering in 2017 with high street favourite, M&S. “After a successful journey, we are headed off on a [...]