You are here: Home | News | Retail round up - The Sunday papers
Retail round up - The Sunday papers
MFI recruits Hilco bosses, Staff face axe at over half of companies in UK, Plastic bags 'not top of the green agenda', M&S's green adviser hits pay dirt, Next expected to report slump...
The Sunday TelegraphTwo senior directors at Hilco, the turnaround specialist, have joined the board of MFI in a move likely to fuel speculation that the chain is struggling. Andrew Pepper, Hilco UK's chief operating officer, and Paul McGowan, its chief executive, joined the board of MEP Mayflower (Holdings), MFI's ultimate parent company, in May, according to new accounts filed at Companies House. At the same time Gary Favell, MFI's chief executive, resigned from the board of MEP Mayflower (Holdings), although he remains on the board of the retail chain and its immediate parent company.
The Observer
More than half of Britain's employers plan to lay off staff in the coming months, according to a new survey, which underlines fears that a major shakeout in the labour market is looming. Of more than 200 senior executives from major companies questioned by KPMG, six out of 10 said they were drawing up plans to cut costs, and more than half - 53 per cent - that they were likely to reduce headcount. With house prices sliding, pushing a growing number of homeowners into negative equity, the performance of the labour market will be crucial in determining how badly the economy fares over the next 12 months. Job losses have so far largely been restricted to the worst-hit sectors, such as financial services and construction, and the claimant count measure of unemployment ticked up by a relatively modest 16,000 in June; but the findings suggest there could soon be more widespread casualties.
Justin King has warned that an obsession with plastic bags - regarded as the 'icon' of a disposable society - has derailed the green agenda. 'Plastic bags are iconic, I accept that,' said King in an interview with The Observer. 'But they are iconic - not material. In overall environmental terms, food waste is a much bigger issue. If I were to rank them it would be food waste, packaging - then plastic bags. Tackling the plastic bag problem does not solve the wider issue of how we are consuming limited resources.' King said the shift to recycled packaging was wasted as 90 per cent of councils would not process it. 'Why doesn't the government change the way it incentivises councils, so they invest in recycling?' he added. This year's Budget was overshadowed by Chancellor Alistair Darling's threat of a plastic bag tax if supermarkets did not cut down the number they handed out. King said Darling had shifted the goalposts, as in February 2007 the country's biggest retailers agreed a two-year plan to reduce use of virgin plastic by 25 per cent. At the end of the first year, a 14 per cent reduction - 1 billion bags - had been achieved. King said a charge wouldn't change consumer behaviour. 'Sainsbury's customers reuse 20 to 25 per cent more bags than our competitors' because they are engaged about the difference they can make.'
The Independent on Sunday
One of the world's leading green specialists, Environmental Resources Management, which advised Marks & Spencer on how to cut the carbon footprint of its clothes, will report a 20 per cent increase in profit next month. Andrew Silverbeck, finance director of the London-based group, said that operating profits would be around $58m (£29m) from consultancy fees of $445m. ERM, which is co-owned by the private equity house Bridgepoint, is looking to expand in Kazakhstan, where many of its quoted mining and energy clients now work. Earlier this year, the company opened an office in Alaska, one of 135 in 40 countries around the world.
The Sunday Express
The administrator of Floors-2-Go is unlikely to find a buyer in its entirety putting jobs at risk. Kroll has closed 41 stores affecting 97 staff. Fears now remain for the surviving 91 stores and 350 staff. A source close to Floor-2-Go said like for like sales figures had got as bad as minus 30 per cent with no single store performing well.
Next is expected to report a five per cent slump in same store sales when it delivers its second quarter results on Wednesday providing more evidence of middle class consumers reduced spending power. Next's leisure park stores have been hit by consumers cutting down on car journeys amid rising fuel costs. Analysts at Credit Suisse calculate next went into its clearance sale with between 20 - 30 per cent less stock than usual, indicating tight buying control.
Tagged as: retail round up - the sunday papers
Should your colleagues be reading the Retail Bulletin? Let them know about us.