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Julian Dunkerton decided against takeover offer and company will delist from London Stock ExchangeBusiness live – latest updatesSuperdry is to embark on a restructuring plan including rent reductions in stores and a fundraising, backed by its boss and co-founder Julian Dunkerton, and will quit the London Stock Exchange.Trading in the shares was halted on Tuesday morning after they fell 25% to just over 5p,...

Mobile units will be deployed on high streets to identify wanted people – including repeat offendersThe government is investing more than £55m in expanding facial recognition systems – including vans that will scan crowded high streets – as part of a renewed crackdown on shoplifting.The scheme was announced alongside plans for tougher punishments for serial or abusive shoplifters in England and Wales, including being...

Jason Tarry poised to take over from Sharon White when she steps down in SeptemberBusiness live – latest updatesThe former boss of Tesco in the UK and Ireland is to replace Sharon White as the chair of the group that owns John Lewis and Waitrose as it turns to an experienced retailer to lead the next phase of its turnaround.Jason Tarry is poised to...

Waitrose and Ocado win new shoppers while a quarter of households are feeling the squeezeBusiness live – latest updatesGrocery price inflation in Great Britain has slowed to 4.5%, its lowest level since February 2022, but one in four households are still struggling financially, retail researchers have found.The upmarket retailers Waitrose and Ocado were the only grocers to win new shoppers in the past three...

Chain says ‘plan is working’ after 2% rise in sales helps transforms £234m loss in 2023 into £56m profitThe owner of John Lewis and Waitrose has returned to annual profit but will not pay its workers a bonus for the second year in a row.The John Lewis Partnership (JLP) said it made a £56m pre-tax profit in the year to 27 January, compared with...

Pharmacies, banks and pubs retreat from town and city centres knocked by failure of Wilko last yearAlmost 5,000 more chain stores were left empty last year – a rate of about 14 closures a day – as high streets were hurt by the failure of Wilko and the retreat of banks and pubs.Pharmacies were the biggest loser with 787 chain outlets disappearing – although...

Bidder says multiple attempts to engage with high street group’s board were rejectedThe US investment group Elliott has ended its bid to buy Currys after previous offers were rejected by the electrical goods retailer.Elliott, which owns Waterstones, told the markets on Monday that it had made multiple attempts to engage with the Currys board but all had been rebuffed. Continue reading...

New owner Frasers Group decides it is unwilling to fund turnaroundThe luxury clothing retailer Matchesfashion is to enter administration after its new owner, Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group, said it was not willing to fund a turnaround.Matches was acquired by Frasers just three months ago for £52m in cash from private equity firm Apax Partners but the business has “consistently missed its business plan targets”...

Rise of 3.4% in January is biggest monthly increase since April 2021 as shoppers return to storesBusiness live – latest updatesRetailers in Great Britain enjoyed the strongest rebound in monthly sales in almost three years in January as people returned to the shops after a slump in Christmas shopping.Sales rose by 3.4% last month, the biggest monthly rise since April 2021, as all retail...

Decision comes as grocery retailer reports 1,000 incidents a day in 2023, with shopworkers suffering physical assaultsThe Co-op is installing in its supermarkets more than 200 secure till kiosks, locked cabinets for bottles of spirits and AI technology to monitor self-checkouts after a 44% surge in retail crime last year to about 1,000 incidents a day.The grocery retailer, which has more than 2,400 stores...

Struggling fashion retailer looking at options including job cuts after reporting slide in salesBusiness live – latest updatesSuperdry has confirmed it is considering a significant round of cost-cutting as the struggling fashion retailer contends with slumping sales.The British brand is drawing up plans for potential store closures and job cuts after it reported last week that sales dropped by nearly a quarter in the...

Giles David to replace Shaun Wills, with losses widening at troubled fashion brandSuperdry has parted ways with its fourth finance boss in five years as losses widened at the troubled UK fashion brand.The company said Shaun Wills, who has been the finance director for three years, is leaving the business and being replaced next week by the interim finance boss Giles David. Continue reading...

Bootmaker says global sales fell by 18% with cash-strapped consumers refusing to splash out at ChristmasDr Martens said revenue dropped by nearly a fifth in the final three months of 2023, as sales in the US continued to plunge and inflation-weary consumers continued to rein in spending.The British bootmaker said in a trading update on Thursday that sales fell by 18% in its third...

GDP rises by 0.3% in November after October decline, with car leasing and video games fuelling bouncebackBusiness live – latest updatesThe UK economy returned to growth in November after a recovery in consumer spending driven by Black Friday sales, with shoppers hunting for bargains as the key Christmas shopping season got under way.Gross domestic product rose by 0.3% on the month, after a decline...

Online growth and high demand for festive treats fuel lift in Tesco profit forecast and 10% sales rise at M&SBusiness live – latest updatesTesco and Marks & Spencer were both Christmas winners with unexpectedly strong sales helped by growth in online orders and high demand for festive treats.The UK’s biggest supermarket, Tesco, upgraded its profits expectations for the year by £50m to £2.75bn as...

Reduced cost pressures and popular festive bakes and chocolate orange muffins boost bakery chainBusiness live – latest updatesGreggs has hailed easing inflationary pressures after the UK’s biggest bakery chain rang up bumper Christmas sales amid less travel disruption and enthusiasm for seasonal specialities such as festive bakes and chocolate orange muffins.The company said sales at established stores had risen 9.4% in the three months...

Fashion and homeware chain raises profit forecast again after bagging £38m more than expectedNext has upgraded profit hopes for the year after ringing up £38m more in sales than expected in the run-up to Christmas.The fashion and homeware chain said that full-price sales stepped up dramatically, rising by 10% in the last two weeks before Christmas. As a result, sales rose by 5.7% in...

Consumers buy more items – including plenty of parsnips and sprouts – to beat last year’s spend by 7%UK shoppers spent £13.7bn on groceries in the run-up to Christmas – 7% more than a year before – as they sought out bargains and switched to discounters to try to offset price inflation.The number of items bought rose by 2% in December as prices climbed...

Firm says he is a self-employed subcontractor, but he says he is a worker and should get holidays and sick payA fitter working for the furniture chain Sharps Bedrooms is taking legal action for better employment rights in a case that could open the door to improving conditions and pay for thousands of gig economy workers fitting kitchens, bathrooms and cupboards for big chains.David...

Households will be able to drop off cables and other electrical waste in-store or have home collections, says DefraBritish households will benefit from improved routes for recycling electronic goods from 2026, under government plans to have producers and retailers pay for household and in-store collections.Consumers would be able to have electrical waste (e-waste) – from cables to toasters and power tools – collected from...

Some big retailers stay shut as Black Friday overshadows traditional sales and people watch their budgetsShoppers are expected to spend £3.7bn this Boxing Day – but that’s 3% less than a year ago as the sales are now overshadowed by Black Friday events and shoppers remain cautious about their budgets.The fall in spend marks a big drop in the volume of items being bought,...

Online stores take biggest hit as overall takings this weekend likely to be 4.5% down on last yearRetailers are hoping a last blast from Christmas shoppers will save their festive season, with Saturday expected to be one of the UK’s biggest spending days of the year.Almost £2.5bn is expected to be spent before Christmas Day over what some are calling the “super weekend” –...