Investors cheer Dr Martens’ turnaround plan – but will it work? June 5, 2025 Shares in Dr Martens have jumped by a fifth as investors cheered on the shoemaker’s new strategy for growth. The iconic brand said it had “failed to take advantage” of its leather goods offering and plans to expand its range of sandals and bags. It’s a “fundamental shift” for the brand, designed to open the [...]
Dr Martens: Shoemaker broadens range of sandals and bags as profit plummets June 5, 2025 Dr Martens has announced a new strategic focus after a bruising year which saw the brand nearly fall into the red. It will move away from a narrow focus on boots to a much broader approach targeting shoes, sandals and bags via a strategy called “Levers for Growth”. “Our ambition is to establish Dr. Martens as the world’s [...]
Boots: Profit jumps after closing hundreds of stores June 5, 2025 Profit at Boots has surged as the high street pharmacy chain closed hundreds of stores during its latest financial year as its owners abandoned plans for an initial public offering (IPO). The Nottingham-headquartered business shuttered 334 locations in the year to the end of August 2024, new accounts filed with Companies House have revealed. Instead [...]
Whoppers on choppers: Deliveroo launches first drone-delivery service June 5, 2025 Deliveroo has announced the rollout of a drone-delivery service for takeaways, with early test flights to be carried out in Ireland. Launching in Blanchardstown, Dublin, initial flights will be used to see how effective the drones are in delivering food, with the ultimate aim to expand the service across the UK and Ireland. “We have [...]
UK to miss out on tourism boom due to ‘layer upon layer’ of taxes June 4, 2025 UK tourism is at risk of suffering a decline as visitors are deciding against going to Britain due to the Treasury’s stringent tax policies, a key industry official has said, in the latest sign of the toll tax hikes are taking. Julia Simpson, the former British Airways chief who now heads up the World Travel [...]
Costco: Lower petrol prices help drive profit surge June 4, 2025 The UK arm of Costco has said lower petrol prices have actually helped its profit jump to almost £200m after driving up memberships. The division of the US giant said a decrease in prices at the pumps during its latest financial year contributed to increasing the number of people signing up and renewing their membership [...]
B&M: FTSE 250 shares plunge as profit and job cuts revealed June 4, 2025 Shares in B&M have plunged by more than ten per cent after the retailer revealed a lower profit, rising debt and job cuts. The Liverpool-headquartered company, which is a member of the FTSE 250 index, reported a pre-tax profit of £431m for the 12 months to 29 March, 2025, down from the £498m it achieved [...]
WH Smith nears sale of high street chain as revenue rises June 4, 2025 WH Smith has confirmed it remains on track to sell its high street division to the owner of Hobbycraft by the end of the month. In March, the FTSE 250 company announced it had agreed to offload the arm to private equity firm Modella in a deal which valued it at £76m. When complete, the [...]
Ramsdens strikes gold after price jump boosts profit to record high June 4, 2025 Pawnbroker Ramsdens enjoyed a bumper six months as its profit soared on the back of record high gold prices. Ramsdens’ pre-tax profit jumped 54 per cent to an all-time high of £6.1m. This was up from £4m in the first half of 2024. The firm said its purchase of precious metals segment performed “very strongly” [...]
B&M: Revenue ticks up as new stores outperform June 4, 2025 Discount retailer B&M has reported a bump in its full-year earnings after progress in France and a better-than-anticipated performance at its new stores. The London-listed Luxembourg-headquartered company reported revenue of £5.57bn in the 52 weeks ended March 29, up 3.7 per cent year on year. It said the higher revenue was “primarily driven” by the contribution [...]