News
The latest news, updates and analysis on the the UK retail industry. Covering every segment of the market, Retail Sector’s business journalists keep you in the picture.
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Jul- 2019 -2 July
Bonmarché managers sell stakes to Philip Day
Bonmarché CEO Helen Connolly, CFO Stephen Alldridge and non-executive director Ishbel Macpherson have sold their shares in the company to Spectre Holdings – an entity owned by Philip Day – despite telling shareholders to not accept his takeover bid in May. Yesterday (Monday 1 July), Connolly sold 42,542 shares to…
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1 July
Poor trading leaves Jack Wills facing ‘cash crunch’
Fashion retailer Jack Wills is reportedly facing a “cash crunch” after a period of poor trading this spring. According to The Times, Jack Wills is rapidly going through the £28m of cash injections arranged by its equity firm owner BlueGem, with sources saying trading has “fell off a cliff”. BlueGem,…
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1 July
Retailers see fastest drop in sales since financial crisis, says CBI
Retail sales volumes fell at its fastest pace since March 2009 in the year to June, according to new research from business organisation firm CBI. The survey of 88 firms found that 58% of retailers said sales were down compared with June last year. Within the retail sector, grocers were…
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1 July
Boots confirms closures of 200 stores
Health and beauty retailer Boots has confirmed it is set to close 200 stores in the UK, after receiving confirmation from its parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance. The store closures will affect underperforming stores, in “walking distance” of other Boots locations and will represent 8% of the retailer’s UK stores…
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1 July
Bonmarché shareholder slams company as it sells stake to Day
Investment company Cavendish Asset Management has sold its 10.8% stake in fashion retail Bonmarché to Spectre Holdings, a company owned by retail tycoon Philip Day. The £600,000 deal has now increased the businessman’s stake, increasing his chances of a takeover. The news comes after Day closed his £5.7m bid to…
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Jun- 2019 -28 June
Philip Day closes Bonmarché offer
Edinburgh Wooden Mill owner Philip Day has set a deadline on his £5.7m offer for Bonmarché after officially closing his offer following poor trading at the business. Day’s firm Spectre Holdings said it is closing its offer to buy the remaining shares at 11.45p, because the future of the business…
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28 June
UK consumer confidence slips in June
Market research company GfK’s long-running Consumer Confidence Index has showed that confidence among consumers in the UK has decreased by three points to -13 in June. The measure for the general economic situation of the country during the last 12 months decreased month to -32 during the month, four points…
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28 June
Boots sees sales decline in Q3
Retail sales at Boots UK declined 2.6% in its Q3 results ending 31 May 2019 while pharmacy sales increased 0.8%. The health and beauty chain’s sales had an impact on its parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance’s overall performance, as it saw sales of $2.8bn (£2.2bn) – a decrease of 7.3%…
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28 June
French Connection delays company sale
Fashion retailer French Connection is set to delay completion of its sale to September, to coincide with the company’s interim earnings report. Talks will still be ongoing with interested parties in the meantime. The statement from the company released today (28 June) said: “Discussions have progressed since then and are…
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27 June
Kingfisher appoints former Carrefour boss as new CEO
DIY retailer retailer Kingfisher, which owns B&Q, has appointed Thierry Garnier as its new chief executive officer. Garnier will be appointed to the board as an executive director and will take over from Véronique Laury as CEO. He will be based at Kingfisher’s headquarters in London and will join Kingfisher…
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