‘The world of Cat TV is more cut throat than you would ever imagine’ – inside the strange business of TV… for cats
Mike Ashley continues leisure push with Boom Battle Bar deal Leisure A company backed by Mike Ashley has snapped up Boom Battle Bar for £11m, extending the retail tycoon’s push into leisure and hospitality. Leisure operator We Do Play, which is backed by Ashley’s Frasers Group, has bought back the business its bosses founded from experiential leisure group XP Factory. Mike Ashley began his retail empire [...]
‘Last days of the honeymoon’: Anxious bosses prepare charm offensive at Labour conference Politics Ahead of the Labour Party Conference on Sunday, and one month away from the Budget, businesses are feeling nervous, write Mauricio Alencar and Felix Armstrong Stepping onto an early-morning Avanti West Coast train from London Euston is now a familiar feeling for the Prime Minister. Andy Burnham is set to make the journey more regularly [...]
Celtic and when does financial prudence become sporting underinvestment? Sport Business By most conventional measures, Celtic should be a model of how to run a football club. According to the club’s latest accounts, Celtic generated £143.6m of revenue and £33.9m of profit after tax, while finishing the year with £77.3m in cash. Shareholders have benefited too. According to FactSet, Celtic shares have appreciated approximately 153 per [...]
Mike Ashley tightens grip on Hugo Boss as son-in-law made chair September 16, 2026 Mike Ashley has tightened his grip on Hugo Boss after his son-in-law, the boss of Frasers Group, was made chairman of the German fashion house. Frasers, which Ashley founded as Sports Direct, has been vying for control of Hugo Boss for months, resulting in him toppling the chairman of its supervisory board, Stefan Sturm, earlier [...]
Mike Ashley’s Frasers ousts Hugo Boss chairman September 14, 2026 Frasers Group, the retail empire run by Mike Ashley, has overthrown the chairman of Hugo Boss as it seeks control of the German fashion house. The UK fashion group, which owns Sports Direct, Jack Wills and Flannels, told investors on Monday that Stephan Sturm, chairman of Hugo Boss’ supervisory board, has agreed to step aside. [...]
Wetherspoon boss: ‘Not up to Burnham’ to choose who is on the high street September 11, 2026 Britain’s pubs have few more committed defenders than Sir Tim Martin. The Norwich-born businessman founded JD Wetherspoon in 1979 when he bought his first pub in Muswell Hill, initially named Martin’s Free House. Since rebranding the pub to Wetherspoon – named after a former teacher of Martin’s who could not control his class – it [...]
‘Misleading’ Frasers ad banned amid feud with watchdog September 2, 2026 The advertising watchdog has censured Frasers Group for running a “misleading” ad just days after its finance chief ramped up a bitter row with the regulator. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned an online advert published by Sports Direct, which is owned by Frasers, for a Puma sports top which it said misled shoppers [...]
Mike Ashley’s Frasers weighs move to oust Hugo Boss chief September 1, 2026 Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group is weighing up a move to oust a boardroom chair at Hugo Boss as it laid out fresh plans to grow its stake in the German fashion house. The retail group, which was founded by the British billionaire, told investors on Tuesday that it wants to control more than half of [...]
October Budget could be a ‘tipping point,’ Asda boss warns Burnham August 28, 2026 Andy Burnham’s first Budget in October could be a “tipping point” for British businesses and the economy, the chair of supermarket giant Asda has warned. Allan Leighton, who is attempting to push through a turnaround of the grocer, said it is “too early to tell” whether the government is committed to halting the rise of [...]
Mike Ashley slams Burnham’s ‘populist’ plans to revive high street August 27, 2026 Retail tycoon Mike Ashley has blasted Andy Burnham’s proposals to revive the British high street as “populist” and “too little too late”. The billionaire Sports Direct and Frasers Group founder has written to the Prime Minister accusing him of failing to tackle the cost of living with “delusional” policies. The causes of the UK’s rising [...]