Wake up and smell the instant coffee March 24, 2011 CHRISTMAS?2010 will be remembered as Britain’s last big spending splurge. What better way to end almost two decades of unsustainable, debt-fuelled largesse than with a massive turkey dinner and tonnes of presents? Supermarkets could barely believe it as families spent more than ever before on rich food and booze; John Lewis notched up record sales. [...]
JJB lifeline approved by creditors March 22, 2011 STRUGGLING retailer JJB Sports has avoided collapsing into administration for the second time in two years, agreeing a restructuring with landlords who will forfeit millions of pounds of rent. Unsecured creditors of the Wigan, northwest England-based sportswear retailer, which has America’s richest man Bill Gates as a five per cent shareholder, backed its proposed company [...]
Dido’s gamble means white flag isn’t likely February 8, 2011 DIDO Harding is a keen racehorse owner whose horse Cool Dawn won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1998. But perhaps the biggest gamble of her career was leaving the sector she had become synonymous with to take the reins at TalkTalk. Harding made her name in supermarkets, first as an executive at Tesco, which she [...]
Rose in new role at Woolworths January 20, 2011 Sir Stuart Rose has been given a new role with South African retailer Woolworths. The former Marks & Spencer boss will becomes a non-executive director of the food and clothing chain. He stepped down as M&S chairman earlier this month, and was replaced by Robert Swannell, having handed over the reins as chief executive to [...]
Credit fears for HMV send shares lower January 19, 2011 SHARES in HMV Group plunged yesterday after the music and book retailer confirmed some of its suppliers have had levels of credit insurance cut. A shadow has been cast over HMV since it issued a profit warning earlier this month with store closures ordered in an attempt to cut costs. The share price sank by [...]
HMV shares plunge as insurers reduce cover January 19, 2011 Credit insurers have reduced the cover they are prepared to give to suppliers of HMV Group following a profit warning from the music, books, DVDs and games retailer, hammering its shares. The withdrawal of credit insurance was a major blow to retailers like variety chain Woolworths and music retailer Zavvi as they tried, and failed, [...]
HMV shares dive as profit warning hits January 5, 2011 SHARES in HMV Group plunged by more than a fifth at one stage yesterday as it issued a profit warning while admitting that it was struggling to meet the terms of a loan covenant. The music and DVD retailer – which also owns Waterstone’s bookshops and a string of live venues – plans to close [...]
Thorntons unveils new boss November 3, 2010 CHOCOLATE retailer Thorntons has appointed Caffé Nero managing director Jonathan Hart as its new chief executive. Hart will take up his post on 4 January and will be charged with restoring momentum to the confectioner’s high street operations, which have suffered from falling sales in recent months. During five years with Caffé Nero, he doubled [...]
Walker to bid £1bn for food firm Iceland October 10, 2010 THE boss of frozen food chain Iceland is planning a £1bn takeover of the firm he founded four decades ago, although he faces a potential bid battle, it emerged yesterday. Malcolm Walker, who together with other managers owns about a quarter of the retailer, is thought to have offered to buy the remaining 76 per cent [...]
HMV looks forward to happy Christmas after profits pick up June 30, 2010 HMV met forecasts with an 18 per cent rise in yearly profit and said its plan to transform the business into an entertainment brand was working. The music, games and DVD group, which runs over 400 stores under its own name as well as 314 Waterstone’s bookstores, made an underlying pretax profit of £74.2m for [...]