The calamitous financial mishaps at Conviviality and imminent closure of shops by Carpetright put the high street on course for its worst crisis since 2008. (The Telegraph)
Adding-up blunders at Conviviality, including a forgotten £30m tax bill, could set the group back years. (The Financial Times £)
Diana Hunter, chief executive of Conviviality, is expected to step down this week ahead of a fundraising attempt. (The Times, Sky News)
The retailer admitted on Friday that it was in talks with accountancy giant PwC to potentially launch an equity fundraising to strengthen its coffers. (The Evening Standard)
Eight leading consumer goods companies including Kraft Heinz and PepsiCo have failed to disclose the producers of their palm oil supplies after being asked to do so by Greenpeace.
It comes despite a pledge from the companies, also including Ferrero, Hershey, Johnson & Johnson, Kellogg’s, PZ Cussons and Smucker’s, to achieve traceability in one of their key ingredients.
A further eight companies — Colgate-Palmolive, General Mills, Mars, Mondelez, Nestlé, P&G, Reckitt Benckiser and Unilever — have disclosed producer lists, although all revealed that their supplies still included palm oil from producers that destroy rainforests. (The Financial Times £)
Plans to take back control of UK fisheries the moment Britain leaves the EU appear to have been abandoned in the face of united EU opposition, dealing a significant blow to the ambitions of the environment secretary, Michael Gove. The UK has back-down as the negotiations to secure the terms of a transition deal go to the wire in Brussels. (The Guardian)
Around one in 10 of us took out at least one retail subscription last year, an 11 per cent increase on 2016, according to research by YouGov for software firm Zuora.
The subscription model has been adopted by companies as diverse as gyms, health insurance providers and telecoms operators but there’s an increasing shift towards fast-moving consumer goods such as food. (The Telegraph)
Alibaba is doubling investment in e-commerce group Lazada, with a further $2bn, as it tries to capture the online shopping market in south-east Asia. The move takes Alibaba’s investment in Lazada to $4bn. Lazada chairwoman Lucy Peng is to take on the additional role of chief executive, replacing founder Max Bittner, who will become a senior adviser to Alibaba Group. “With a young population, high mobile penetration and just three per cent of the region’s retail sales currently conducted online, we feel very confident to double down on south-east Asia,” said Ms Peng. “Lazada is well-positioned for the next phase of development and of Internet-enabled commerce in this region”. (The Financial Times £)
Marks and Spencer failed to deliver flowers in time for Mother’s Day despite a selected delivery date of Saturday 10 March, the day before. M&S wrote to a customer: ‘Our Mother’s Day flowers are extremely popular and we pride ourselves on quality and service. The vast majority were delivered on time. However, a small number of customers had orders postponed and we contacted each customer as soon as possible to offer a full refund and a gesture of goodwill. We are disappointed if anyone feels let down and encourage them to contact our customer services.’ (The Guardian)
The restaurant industry is facing a chef shortage and the situation is likely to be complicated by Brexit, writes Tim Lewis. (The Guardian)
Businesses are ill-prepared for the potential impact of Brexit on their tax affairs, with almost two thirds having no formal VAT strategy in place, according to a survey by accounting group BDO. (The Times)
Klépierre, one of Europe’s largest owners of shopping centres, has made a £5 billion takeover approach for Hammerson in a move that threatens to derail the British property company’s proposed merger with Intu. (The Times)
Pharmaceutical firms like AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline are set to benefit from an ageing population and longer lifespans, according to Laith Khalaf of Hargreaves Lansdown. (This is Money)
Next is set to be latest high street chain to uncover dramatic drop in profits. Analysts expect profits at the 154-year-old firm to fall eight per cent to £725m. Fellow retailer Kingfisher is also expected to report a fall in profits. (This is Money)
Upmarket fashion retailer Ted Baker is set to defy the doom and gloom on the High Street by posting a 12% increase in profits to £74m this week. (This is Money)
Online shoppers are not being given clear information on return rights by retailers, according to an investigation. Research by Which? magazine found that 45 out of 46 popular retailers and supermarkets did not offer information that was completely accurate and clear on online returns. (The Independent)
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