Mike Ashley’s empire tightens grip on Boohoo as crunch vote nears November 15, 2024 Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has continued to up its stake in Boohoo as a war of words over the future of the fast-fashion giant rumbles on. The owner of the likes of Sports Direct and House of Fraser now has a 28 per cent stake in the Manchester-headquartered group, which itself features brands such as [...]
How Arla Foods boss went from selling cigarettes to Lurpak and Cravendale November 15, 2024 A globe-trotting career that began selling cigarettes at British American Tobacco and has led to heading up the UK arm of dairy giant Arla Foods is maybe not what Bas Padberg could have predicted when he started out in the early 1990s. The managing director of the group behind Lurpak, Cravendale, Skyr and B.O.B milk [...]
WH Smith: Profit jumps as expansion into travel shops pays off November 14, 2024 WH Smith’s push into travel has paid off with the bulk of its growth in the last year due to higher profit at airports, train stations and motorway services. WH Smith’s revenue rose seven per cent to £1.918bn in the year ended 31 August, 2024, driven by growth in travel shops plus the company’s expansion [...]
What Homebase staff and shoppers need to know as ‘Del Boy billionaire’ behind The Range nears rescue deal November 13, 2024 Staff at DIY chain Homebase and its customers have been issued advice as the so called ‘Del Boy billionaire’ behind The Range edged closer to a rescue deal. It emerged this morning that Chris Dawson is in talks to snap up around 70 Homebase stores as part of a pre-pack administration. Speaking to The Telegraph, [...]
Knoops: Boss reveals plans to become £4bn global giant November 13, 2024 The boss of Knoops has outlined his plans to the grow drinking chocolate chain into a $5bn (£3.9bn) giant with at least 3,000 stores across the world. William Gordon-Harris, who is both the chairman and chief executive of the London-headquartered business, said his revenue target is “readily achievable” when each of its hoped-for stores hit [...]
Struggles continue at Asda as new owner looks to turn around supermarket giant November 12, 2024 The continuing struggles at supermarket giant Asda have been revealed with both Tesco and Sainsbury’s hoovering up its market share in the UK, according to new figures. Sales at the Leeds-based grocer totalled £4.242bn in the 12 weeks to 3 November, 2024, down from the £4.490bn it reported for the same period last year, the [...]
Harrods faces major Christmas strike as staff demand inflation-busting festive bonus November 11, 2024 London’s iconic department store Harrods is facing the prospect of major strike action by its staff over the critical Christmas period. Hundreds of staff, who are members of the United Voices of the World (UVW) union, will vote on strike action in December over what they have described as “poor working conditions” and their festive [...]
Burberry braced for Moncler takeover as staff given heads up November 11, 2024 Luxury fashion house Burberry is braced to be taken over by Italian company Moncler amid staff at one of its flagship London stores being given a heads up on the deal, according to reports. Rumours began to circulate last week that the listed brand was set for a takeover by the skiwear maker, but both [...]
Castore: Andy Murray sportswear brand backed by billionaires tops growth list November 7, 2024 British sportswear brand Castore, which is backed by the likes of Sir Andy Murray and the billionaire Issa brothers, has been named as the UK’s fastest growing retailer. The Manchester-headquartered company has topped the list from Retail Index which analyses revenue growth over a two-year period. Based on the figures used for the ranking, Castore’s [...]
Mamas & Papas: M&S and Next deals boosts sales to new record November 7, 2024 High street nursery brand Mamas & Papas has reported record sales thanks to the success of its deals with M&S and Next. The Huddersfield-headquartered company has posted a revenue of £154.3m for the 12 months to 31 March 2024, up from the £144.1m it achieved in the prior year. The business said that its revenue [...]