Reckitt sells majority stake in Air Wick and Cillit Bang arm July 18, 2025 Reckitt Benckiser has agreed to sell its Essential Home business to private equity investor Advent International for $4.8bn (£3.6bn). Essential Home includes the brands Air Wick, Calgon, Woolite and Cillit Bang. The FTSE 100 giant, which will retain a 30 per cent equity stake in the business, has been reshaping its business to focus on “11 high-growth, high-margin [...]
Burberry: Early signs of turnaround take shape July 18, 2025 Burberry reported a smaller-than-expected dip in sales this morning as new chief executive Joshua Schulman’s early efforts to revive the luxury label begin to take hold. In a trading update for the 13 weeks to 28 June, the British fashion house said retail revenue fell six per cent to £433m, with comparable store sales down [...]
Tiktok gives retailers a headache with boom in returns culture July 18, 2025 Retailers are facing a conundrum. Their customers are searching for and buying clothes via Tiktok and Instagram, but those same social media customers are increasingly less likely to keep the clothes they buy. A surge in the number of clothes sent back to retailers has caused issues with both costs and with environmental goals, but [...]
Tesco seeks to appeal decision in ‘equal pay’ £4bn lawsuit ahead of final hearing July 17, 2025 Tesco is back in a courtroom this week seeking to overturn a legal decision ahead of a final trial over allegations of unequal pay at the supermarket giant
Mike Ashley’s investments double to £1bn thanks to Hugo Boss shares July 17, 2025 The total value of the stakes Mike Ashley’s empire holds in the likes of Hugo Boss, AO World and Boohoo have doubled to £1bn in just over a year, it has been revealed. According to the group’s latest financial results, which have been filed with the London Stock Exchange, the value of its investments in [...]
Boom in branded treats not enough to offset overall grocery sales July 17, 2025 Premier Foods has reported a slight uptick in sales thanks to a few booming branded categories, although non-branded goods suffered. The company told markets this morning that grocery sales fell 2.7 per cent to £174.7m in the first quarter of the year, with branded sales also down. Overall sales at the company rose 0.2 per [...]
Ocado shares spike as grocer boosted by £750m M&S joint venture gain July 17, 2025 Online grocer Ocado has reported significant growth in the first half of 2025, while stating its major goal is to turn cash-flow positive next year. Its share price spiked more than 13 per cent in early trades. Ocado told markets this morning that revenue rose 13.2 per cent to £674m, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation [...]
FTSE100 giant Diageo to replace CEO Debra Crew as sales slide July 16, 2025 Diageo will replace Debra Crew just over a year into her tenure as the drinks giant struggles to regain investor confidence following a turbulent period marked by falling sales and a sharp decline in its share price. The FTSE 100 giant has confirmed that Crew has quit with immediate effect and will be replaced on [...]
Asda faces another hefty fine for selling expired food in stores July 16, 2025 Supermarket giant Asda has been given a huge fine for selling expired food in two stores, its second such fine in three months. Repeated checks by Trading Standards officers discovered expired items contrary to food safety codes at its Leckwith and Pentwyn branches in Cardiff. The TDR-owned grocer was then fined £640,000 for selling 115 [...]
Co-op boss confirms data of all 6.5m members stolen July 16, 2025 The chief executive of Co-op has confirmed that the personal data of all its 6.5m members was stolen during a major cyber attack in April, marking one of the most widespread data breaches in UK retail history. Speaking publicly for the first time since the attack, Shirine Khoury-Haq said the breach had a “devastating” impact [...]