The kids heading back to school drove sales at John Lewis as the warmer weather continued to help Waitrose September 13, 2016 The John Lewis Partnership's sales have been boosted by the summer sun and families stocking up for the start of the school year. In the week to 10 September, sales at John Lewis were up 9.1 per cent on the same period last year, reaching £82.7m. Fashion sales did particularly well, up by 6.8 per cent. Children's [...]
BIS committee chair urges Mike Ashley to leave employment agency Transline Group behind September 13, 2016 Iain Wright, the chair of the Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) select committee is pushing Sports Direct's founder Mike Ashley to ditch Transline Group, the agency that supplies workers for his Shirebrook warehouse. The BIS committee said in a report on the working practices at Shirebrook that Transline Group had been misleading in evidence given during [...]
M&S boss Steve Rowe declines to meet MPs to discuss pay cuts for his staff September 13, 2016 M&S boss Steve Rowe has rejected an invitation to meet MPs to discuss the pay changes he is making for his staff and he has refused to accept their suggestion that he should commit to a three-year pay freeze. Some 70 MPs wrote to Rowe last week to complain about the pay changes he is making for employees, [...]
Ikea sales hit a record €34.2bn in the year to August 2016 as company’s focus on food pays off September 13, 2016 The world just can't get enough of meatballs and flatpack furniture – and it's reflected in record sales at Ikea, which the company attributed largely to its focus on food in the last year. The Swedish group's total sales rose to €34.2bn (£28.8bn) in the 12 months to the end of August, from €31.9bn the year before. Total sales [...]
Private equity guru Jon Moulton considered buying BHS and Austin Reed June 2, 2016 Private equity guru Jon Moulton has said he had considered snapping up collapsed retailers BHS and Austin Reed. Moulton told CityAM that he decided against rescuing the businesses as it was “too hard” to revive them. Speaking about why BHS failed, the Better Capital founder said “tough competitive market with too much traditional retail trading space” led [...]
Watch: John Lewis Christmas advert 2015 – The Man on the Moon, with Aurora’s cover version of Oasis’ Half The World Away November 6, 2015 [custom id="181"] The wait is over. Christmas is officially here. John Lewis has revealed its latest festive advert. Called Man on the Moon, the tearjerking ad shows a young girl – Lily – watching an elderly man who sits alone on the moon. After a few failed attempts to contact him, she finally manages to get a [...]
Troubled Johnson in share bomb September 10, 2008 Dry cleaning to clothes hire company Johnson Service Group yesterday revealed an 80 per cent plunge in first half profits due to tough trading conditions. Johnson has been weathering a troubled period following its shares collapse last year. The group reported pre-tax profit of £0.4m, compared with £2.3m last year as revenue slumped 18 per [...]
Thomas Cook loses EC case September 10, 2008 Travel company Thomas Cook yesterday lost its epic battle for compensation from the European Commission for preventing Airtours, now called MyTravel, from merging with First Choice Holidays in 1999. The European Court of First Instance said that Thomas Cook, which now owns MyTravel, was not due any compensation. This was despite its own landmark ruling [...]
Woes aid Whitbread September 5, 2008 Whitbread, Britain’s biggest hotel and restaurants operator, yesterday emerged as a rare winner in the consumer slowdown, revealing a boost in sales in the first half of this year. Whitbread’s Premier Inn budget hotel chain accounts for about 70 per cent of total profits. Premier Inn had total sales up 17.9 per cent and like-for-like [...]
Signet fails to shine as sales slump bites September 4, 2008 The World’s biggest speciality jewellery retailer, Signet, has announced a 7.8 per cent fall in first half pre-tax profit, slightly better than analysts had feared. Signet warned that the consumer environment in both the US and the UK remained “very challenging”. Investec had forecast profits of $75.3m (£42.3m), five per cent lower than those reported. [...]