DFS shares wobble after pre-tax profits almost halve in full-year results October 4, 2018 Sofa firm DFS said the summer heatwave caused profits to fall this year, despite an uptick in revenue, causing shares to tumble by an initial nine per cent before recovering in early morning trading. The figures Pre-tax profit was nearly cut in halve as it fell a massive 48.5 per cent in the 52 weeks up [...]
Greg Clark’s flawed and feeble remedy will fail to stamp out the late payment problem October 4, 2018 Brexit confusion, in-fighting, and leadership peacocking have marred both the Labour and Conservative Party conferences this year, but business secretary Greg Clark provided a glimmer of hope for SMEs this week. Large companies could be forced to nominate a board member to ensure that invoices are paid properly as part of a planned crackdown on [...]
Ted Baker share price slides as profits fall amid ‘challenging’ high street October 4, 2018 Profits dropped at fashion house Ted Baker today as it blamed “challenging trading conditions”, with no let up expected for the latter half of the year, sending shares sliding around 12 per cent in early morning trading. Read more: Moss Bros issues profit warning The figures Ted Baker saw profits before tax dip 3.2 per [...]
Brewdog raises £23m in latest crowdfunding round, falling short of its upper £50m target October 3, 2018 Brewdog will finish its fifth fundraiser having smashed its initial target, but fallen short of the company’s £50m upper limit. The crowdfunding round will close on 15 October having so far raised £23m, breaking the company’s previous record £19m fundraiser in 2016. Read more: Brewdog temporarily takes down parody porn site after backlash The brewery had [...]
John Lewis Partnership taps London startup CupClub for reusable cups trial October 3, 2018 John Lewis Partnership has announced a collaboration with London startup CupClub, which will see the subscription service trialled within the business. CupClub was selected alongside three other startups who were chosen from more than 100 applications to John Lewis Partnership's JLab retail innovation programme, which in this iteration was dedicated to reducing plastic waste. The London startup [...]
Ryanair’s special status is tarnished – it’s now a question of fight or flight for O’Leary October 3, 2018 Michael O’Leary is not short of ambition. The chief executive of Ryanair has spoken of flying 200m passengers in a year, and of profits of €2bn per annum, adding more than a third to the highest achieved in a year to date. The target date is 2024, but questions are being asked if O’Leary will [...]
Pret a Manger to introduce full ingredient labelling following customer allergen death October 3, 2018 High-end sandwich store Pret a Manger has said it will label all the ingredients in its products following the death of a teenager from an allergic reaction to one of its baguettes. Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, 15, had a severe sesame allergy and died after eating a baguette, which did not list all of the ingredients, from [...]
Costa ad banned for telling consumers to pick bacon sandwiches over avocados October 3, 2018 The advertising watchdog has banned a Costa advert for encouraging consumers to chow down on a bacon sandwich rather than avocados. A radio ad told listeners there was "a great deal on ripen-at-home avocados", but added they'd only be ripe to eat "for about 10 minutes then they'll go off". Read more: Costa sold to Coca-Cola: [...]
Sports Direct and JD Sports join the race for Evans Cycles October 3, 2018 JD Sports Fashion and Sports Direct have taken up seats at the bidding table alongside Halfords for beleaguered firm Evans Cycles. Both sporting retail powerhouses have tabled indicative offers for Evans in the last week, Sky News first reported late last night. The bids come in addition to an offer from Britain's biggest bike firm [...]
The Gym Group appoints former Tesco and Asos finance director as chief financial officer October 3, 2018 Low-cost exercise chain The Gym Group has appointed former Tesco director Mark George as its chief finance officer. George was most recently the deputy at car dealing company Auto Trader and has also held senior finance positions at Tesco and fashion house Asos. He will join The Gym Group at the end of the month. Gym Group chief executive [...]
