Hospitality sales drop by 26 per cent in May despite indoor reopening June 11, 2021 Pubs, bars and restaurants across the UK saw sales slide more than a quarter below pre-pandemic levels last month despite the reopening of thousands of venues, according to new figures. The latest Coffer CGA business tracker revealed that hospitality operators reported a 26 per cent decline for May against the same month in 2019. Trading [...]
John Lewis exclusive: ’40 per cent of our profits will come from non-retail by 2030′ June 11, 2021 High Street giant John Lewis looks back on a difficult year. In March, the 157-year old partnership announced it would not reopen eight stores after lockdown restrictions eased, putting almost 1,500 jobs at risk. The value of John Lewis stores dropped to almost half the value they were before this year’s and last year’s writedowns, due [...]
Selfridges put up for sale with £4bn price tag June 10, 2021 The billionaire owners of Selfridges are considering selling the iconic department store group, with bids expected to top £4bn. The Weston Family has lined up advisers at Credit Suisse to advise on a potential sale after receiving an unsolicited takeover approach, React News reported. It is understood offers in excess of £4bn are likely to [...]
‘BrewDog’s next challenge is not making matters worse’, says crisis PR expert June 10, 2021 BrewDog has suffered something of a PR disaster today after tens of former employees posted an open letter online that alleged unfavourable and damaging things about the company. More than 60 ex-BrewDog employees signed the open letter, which was posted to Twitter and alleged the brewery had created a culture of fear at its [...]
Empty stores on Oxford Street rise by a fifth in six months June 10, 2021 The number of empty stores on Oxford Street has risen by nearly a fifth since the start of 2021, as pandemic-led lockdowns took a toll on the high street. Some 17 per cent of stores on London’s most famous street have closed since January, according to research by Property Week. Among the most famous and [...]
UK competition watchdog ‘to probe Amazon buy box’ June 10, 2021 The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority is planning to formally investigate competition at Amazon, according to reports this morning. The investigation comes amid a similar ongoing one by the EU into Amazon. The UK competition watchdog, which has been analysing the online retailer for months, has focused on how Amazon uses data collected on its [...]
BrewDog accused of ‘vanity projects’ and fostering a culture of fear among staff June 10, 2021 BrewDog has been accused of being a “toxic” employer that has led staff to feel fearful and suffer mental health issues as a consequence of working at the company. In an open letter to BrewDog, 61 former employees, plus a minimum of 45 others who “did not feel safe” to include their names or initials, [...]
Wider adoption of product recycling drives growth at Music Magpie June 10, 2021 Tech resale site Music Magpie has seen a three per cent boost in revenue in the last six months, during a period in which it listed on London’s stock exchange. For the six months ending 31 May the site saw revenue of £72.5m, up slightly on the previous six months’ £70.2. Music Magpie’s adjusted EBITDA [...]
DFS navigates lockdowns and supply chain disruption to land profit June 10, 2021 DFS is set to make at least £105m in underlying profit before tax for its 2021 financial year, despite Covid-related disruption and and supply chain issues. In a market update this morning ahead of its full year results, the sofa retailer said total order intake for its fourth quarter was up 92 per cent against [...]
Exclusive: Nightclubs ‘may open doors’ on 21 June regardless of rules June 9, 2021 Some UK nightclubs are considering reopening their doors on 21 June even if the government pushes back the date for lifting lockdown restrictions. Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), told Morning Wire the sector was “getting to breaking point”, adding that a potential delay to reopening had sparked “panic and [...]