B&Q owner Kingfisher acquires trade services platform to roll out to UK stores November 25, 2020 B&Q owner Kingfisher has acquired home improvement services firm Needhelp for €10m, with plans to roll the platform out in the UK. The company said today that it has taken an 80 per cent stake in the company as it seeks to ramp up its mobile and digital services. Needhelp founder Guillaume de Kergariou will [...]
Franco Manca owner The Fulham Shore to open new sites in vote of confidence for London’s restaurant sector November 25, 2020 Franco Manca owner The Fulham Shore is opening new London restaurants in a vote of confidence in the capital’s hospitality sector despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The company said today that it launched a Franco Manca restaurant in Waterloo in September that had traded well before the most recent lockdown, despite lower than [...]
Hoxton hotel chain Ennismore to merge with Ibis owner Accor November 25, 2020 Ennismore, the owner of London hotel chain Hoxton, is planning to merge with Accor, the parent company of Ibis, Novotel and Mercure, in further consolidation for the struggling travel and tourism industry. The companies announced an all-share merger which is expected to create cost synergies of €15m a year, while the deconsolidation of existing leases [...]
Deliveroo appoints new chair ahead of rumoured public listing November 25, 2020 Takeaway delivery app Deliveroo has appointed Claudia Arney as the company’s first chair, as the business heads for change in 2021. The move comes as Deliveroo prepares to pursue a rumoured public listing in the coming months. Arney has worked in executive roles primarily focused on building digital businesses including at Pearson, The Financial Times, [...]
New Covid rules are a ‘disaster’ for hospitality, based on non-existent data, says D&D London boss November 24, 2020 The head of restaurant group D&D London has slammed the new government Covid restrictions, calling them a “disaster” and a “kick in the teeth” for the hospitality sector. Des Gunewardena writes in an exclusive column for Morning Wire that the government is failing to back up its new regulations, which place tough restrictions on bars [...]
Leadenhall Market tenants offered turnover-based rents to see them through Covid-19 November 24, 2020 Canada Corporation has offered Leadenhall Market tenants the option to switch to turnover-based rents amid a surge of closures in the UK retail and hospitality sectors.
UK retail sales fall in November but online shopping booms, survey shows November 24, 2020 Overall UK retail sales dropped in November but online shopping boomed as the England-wide lockdown forced customers to change their habits, a new survey has shown. The CBI’s monthly retail survey showed that sales fell in November year on year at a similar pace to the drop in October. The sales gauge came in at [...]
JD Sports in exclusive talks with Debenhams to buy department store November 24, 2020 JD Sports is in exclusive talks with Debenhams that would see the troubled department chain acquired by the sportswear business, according to reports. Debenhams fell into administration in April for the second time. The coronavirus has hit the destitute department store hard, with stores closed and thousands of jobs axed due to the virus. According [...]
Covid-19 leaves bad taste at Greencore as firm seeks £90m to shore up against virus costs November 24, 2020 Food producer Greencore is targeting a £90m equity placing to mitigate the cost of Covid-19 to the business, after the group’s pre-tax profits stood at £17.3m - down 81 per cent on 2019.
Compass Group returns to profit in Q4 following ‘challenging year’ November 24, 2020 Compass Group has made an operating profit of £561m in 2020 after a difficult year that saw parts of the business closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The catering giant 2020 operating profit was down on last year’s £1,852m. Nearly two-thirds of Compass Group’s revenue came from north America. The group was able to return [...]