Debenhams
This coverage examines Debenhams’ trajectory, strategies, and impact within the UK retail sector. Reporting focuses on store operations, online developments, financial performance, brand repositioning, product ranges, and executive changes. Designed for retail professionals, it offers analysis of commercial decisions, market challenges, and opportunities relevant to department store management and broader apparel and homeware retailing.
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Jan- 2019 -4 JanuaryComment
Carnage on the shop floor
The pressure on the retail sector has been a consistent staple for investors since the end of the financial crisis, partly as a result of changing shopping habits but also down to rising costs and outdated business models. This has been no better illustrated by the way UK consumers behaved…
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Dec- 2018 -21 DecemberAdvice
Will retailers rise to the occasion this Christmas?
Retailers are entering their busiest and potentially most profitable period – but it is also their riskiest. Fail to hit the nail on the head, and retailers could struggle to make it through to next Christmas. House of Fraser, Debenhams and Marks & Spencers are just some of the stores…
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13 DecemberDepartment Stores
Mike Ashley asks Debenhams to ‘reconsider’ £40m offer in ‘frustrated’ email
Mike Ashley has asked Debenhams to “reconsider” his £40m investment offer which he described as “a very public statement of support at a critical time for Debenhams’ business” in an email in which he described himself as “frustrated”. In the letter Ashley expresses his frustration that Sports Direct’s “assistance” has…
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4 DecemberDepartment Stores
‘Tax the internet for the good of the high street’, Mike Ashley tells MPs
Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley has said online businesses should be taxed 20% in as soon as six months to save the majority of high street retailers and avoid closures. Ashley appeared in front of MPs at the House of Commons yesterday (3 December) after demanding to meet them in…
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Nov- 2018 -26 NovemberShopping Centres
Mike Ashley vows to pull 17 stores from Intu Properties
Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley has vowed to close all his stores located in Intu shopping centres following a rent row over four House of Fraser stores. The move will see Ashley shut 17 stores — a mix of Sports Direct, House of Fraser, Flannels, USC and Evans Cycles…
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26 NovemberClothing & Shoes
Missguided boss slammed by MPs for Parliamentary no-show
Nitin Passi, the CEO and founder of online retailer Missguided, has been criticised by MPs for refusing to appear in the Houses of Parliament as part of an investigation into fast fashion. In a letter to Passi, MP Mary Creagh chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, said she was “disappointed”…
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19 NovemberComment
Digital taxation, and what it means for small retailers
The chancellor’s Budget announcements will have certainly set a few pulses racing in the independent retail sector, for several reasons. Among the measures likely to have piqued the interests of British retailers were a property rates reduction for small businesses, a £675m ‘future high street’ investment plan, and a proposal…
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9 NovemberClothing & Shoes
Fast fashion brands called before Parliament
A number of online only fashion retailers have been asked to give evidence as part of the Environmental Audit Committee’s inquiry into the sustainability of the fashion industry. The chair of the committee has written letters to ASOS, Boohoo, PrettyLittleThing, Amazon and Missguided, published today (9 November), to the online…
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6 NovemberDepartment Stores
Debenhams ratings downgraded by Moody’s
Debenhams has had its ratings downgraded for a second time in two months by ratings agency Moody’s. Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the long-term corporate family rating (CFR) of the UK’s largest department store group Debenhams to Caa1 from B2. It has also downgraded Debenhams probability of default rating (PDR) to…
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Oct- 2018 -25 OctoberDepartment Stores
Debenhams to close 50 stores amid record £491m loss
Debenhams has announced it will close 50 stores after reporting a record annual loss of £491.5m in the year to 1 September. The embattled department store said it will close almost a third of its 165 stores in the next three to five years leading to the loss of around…
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