Restructuring
Restructuring in the UK retail sector involves the strategic changes retailers make to strengthen their financial position, streamline operations, and adapt to evolving market conditions. Retail Sector provides comprehensive coverage of restructuring activity, including breaking news on administrations, CVAs, and refinancing deals, alongside expert analysis of the operational and strategic implications. Our reporting helps retail executives, store owners, ecommerce leaders, and supply chain professionals understand how these developments impact the wider retail landscape, offering insights into recovery plans, leadership decisions, and business transformation across physical and digital channels.
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May- 2019 -21 MayAdvice
Retail landlords must stay focused in the face of CVAs
Recently announcing its restructuring plans, Debenhams has joined a long line of casualties for the UK High Street. With the culture of company voluntary arrangements (CVAs) still apparent, it is often the commercial landlords who find themselves left high and dry, faced with losing tenants and slashes to their rental…
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14 MayHealth & Beauty
Boots profits slump by almost 20%
Profits at Boots UK stores fell by 18.3% last year as sales also struggled. For the year ending 31 August the company, which is owned by Walgreens Boots Alliance, reported profits of £317m and revenues of £6.8bn, a fall of 2.3% compared with the previous year. The fall is also…
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7 MayHigh Street
New Look reduces debts by £1bn
Fashion retailer New Look has announced it has reduced existing long term debt by £1bn to £350m, as part of its comprehensive financial restructuring. Furthermore, the restructure delivered £150m of new long term capital in the form of new Senior Secured Notes (SSN), which has been used to repay the…
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1 MayEconomy
Company insolvencies reach five-year high
New figures from the Insolvency Service show the first quarter of 2019 had the second highest underlying level of insolvencies in any quarter since Q1 2014. According to the figures, there were 4,187 total underlying company insolvencies in England and Wales in Q1 2019, a rise of 6.3% on the…
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Apr- 2019 -29 AprilHigh Street
Arcadia secures help from HSBC
Arcadia, which is owned by Phillip Green, has secured help from HSBC in order to reassure suppliers as the retailer seeks out a rescue deal. According to a report by The Times, HSBC agreed to stand behind Arcadia’s debts to suppliers, which have asked for advance payments since credit insurers…
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15 AprilDepartment Stores
Debenhams CEO expected to step down
Debenhams CEO Sergio Bucher is expected to step down in the next few days, after lenders took control of the embattled department store’s chain last week. A source close to Bucher told the BBC: “Having stayed on and got the refinancing in place, Sergio thinks now would be the right…
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9 AprilDepartment Stores
Debenhams enters pre-pack administration
Debenhams has entered pre-pack administration and gone into the control of its lenders following the department store’s rejection of Sports Direct’s offer to underwrite £150m equity issuance. The pre-pack administration will see all of the company’s shareholders – including Sports Direct which has a 30% stake – wiped out and…
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8 AprilClothing & Shoes
Philip Green proposes to halve Arcadia pension payments
Sir Philip Green is seeking to halve the annual contributions to the Arcadia Group’s pension scheme as part of its restructuring plan. According to Sky News, Green wishes to cut the annual pension fund from £50m to £25m and made the proposal during discussions between Arcadia’s advisers, its pension trustees…
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1 AprilDepartment Stores
Debenhams shareholders back Mike Ashley becoming CEO
Sports Direct has said a number of other shareholders in embattled department store Debenhams have expressed support in Mike Ashley becoming CEO of the company. Ashley’s retail company Sports Direct has an almost 30% stake in Debenhams and as the department store has been seeking funding to help with its…
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Mar- 2019 -29 MarchDepartment Stores
Debenhams advisors should be ‘put in prison’, says Mike Ashley
Mike Ashley has hit out at Debenhams after the department store agreed on a refinancing scheme which could see its shareholders’ stakes wiped out. Debenhams released a statement yesterday (28 March) saying its bondholders were expected to back a £200m restructuring loan. In response, Ashley said “if there were any…
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