End of story for Borders November 26, 2009 BORDERS book store chain yesterday fell into adminstration and appointed insolvency and restructuring firm MCR at the eleventh hour after the firm’s adviser BDO Stoy Hayward pulled out at last minute due to a conflict of interest. BDO refused to comment. The ex-board of collapsed Woolworths recently warned that advisers should not act as administrators [...]
MBL announces a tie-up with US giant Best Buy November 16, 2009 MBL shares rocketed yesterday after the UK distributor of home entertainment products said it had signed a contract with US retail giant Best Buy for the exclusive supply of its DVDs, BluRay disks and CDs. MBL shares closed up 9.62 per cent at 171p. The contract between MBLand Best Buy is for an initial period [...]
Deloitte hits back after Woolworths’ former board blames firm for failing November 15, 2009 City accountancy firm Deloitte yesterday hit back at claims from Woolworths’ former directors holding it responsible for the high street retailer’s demise. Woolworths’ former chairman Richard North, and former chief executive Steve Johnson complained that Deloitte’s dual role as both adviser to Woolworths and administrator to the business when it collapsed last November constitutes a [...]
Retailers forced to shut up shop as crunch bites October 26, 2009 THE lingering recession has forced almost 26,000 shops out of business, draining life from the economy and leaving hundreds of town centres pockmarked with empty premises, figures from The Local Data Company show. One in ten of the 251,462 shops in 705 town centres tracked by the data house closed up in the nine months [...]
THE TIPSTER MACRO DATA KEY TO THE WEEK AHEAD October 18, 2009 WITH a slew of macroeconomic data on the way, sterling-US dollar – otherwise known as cable – is sharply in focus this week. Although the pound made some solid gains at the end of last week, these may well be reversed on Friday when the UK third quarter GDP figure is released. Forecasts have been [...]
Battered JJB to carry on with cash call October 11, 2009 JJB Sports is ploughing ahead with its ambitious £100m cash call, despite calling it off on Friday following a suspected dirty tricks campaign. JJB Sports is expected this morning to hand over a dossier of emails and bank documents to City watchdog the Financial Services Authority for it to investigate what it believes is a [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS October 5, 2009 TRAVIS PERKINSRoyal Bank of Scotland said that Travis Perkins continues to manage its way through a difficult, but expected, merchanting market with DIY surprisingly resilient. It upgraded its forecasts to “buy” from “hold” with a target price increased to 925p. The firm’s shares remain the brokers prefered merchant play. HMV GROUPGoldman Sachs upgraded HMV to [...]
Woolworths vs Wellworths October 4, 2009 Lawyers for Shop Direct, which bought the rights to the Woolworths brand name, have threatened legal action against Wellworths store owner Claire Robertson if she opens another store under the name. They say the Dorchester-based variety store’s name is too similar to Woolworths.
Linklaters’ Mr Tough Guy on why the next two months are key for the City September 28, 2009 THE legal profession might be going through one of its biggest slumps in a decade – but you would not know that looking at Linklaters’ senior partner David Cheyne. A small, dapper man, he is relaxed and all smiles as he sits in a tastefully furnished ground floor meeting room at the firm’s Silk Street [...]
Dunelm sales surge in downturn September 15, 2009 Homewares retailer Dunelm yesterday reported a surge in recent sales growth and said it planned to create up to 1,000 jobs this financial year, boosting its shares 16 per cent to a new high. Dunelm, which sells products like curtains, bedding, blinds, rugs and lighting, said sales at stores open at least a year jumped [...]