retail
A deal has been made to sell troubled high street brands Edinburgh Woollen Mill, Bonmarché and Ponden Home after they fell into administration last year. The deal, which has been made by a consortium of overseas investors, will see over 300 stores saved from closure, saving thousands of jobs. The new investors will give the businesses a cash injection and will keep the current management in place to oversee a turnaround.
High street baker Greggs will see its first year in the red after 82 years of operation due to challenging trading conditions during the pandemic. The inventor of the vegan sausage roll is still optimistic and plans to open 100 new stores this year. CEO Roger Whiteside said in a statement: "We are optimistic about the prospects for the future. We want to make sure we come back stronger than we ever were and new shops is a big part of that."
On the flipside, pet retailer Pets at Home and B&Q owner Kingfisher have both enjoyed a boost in sales, as two essential retailers which have been able to maximise on the increase in people shopping for pets during lockdown and the huge increase in DIY last year. Kingfisher recently announced that in the six weeks to January 6th like-for-like sales were up by 17%. Pets at Home also saw like-for-like sales increase by the ‘high teens’.
M&S has acquired fashion brand Jaeger, which fell into administration last year, for an undisclosed sum. The deal is part M&S’s transformation program which include the diversification of its clothing and home range to include concession brands. The MD of Clothing and Home at M&S said in a statement: “We have set out our plans to sell complementary third-party brands as part of our Never the Same Again programme to accelerate our transformation and turbocharge online growth.”
Morrisons and Sainsbury's have both said that they will ban customers from entering a store without a face mask unless they are medically exempt. The move follows concerns that customers are not following strict COVID-19 guidelines whilst in supermarkets. Simon Roberts, Chief Executive of Sainsburys said in a statement: “The vast majority of customers are shopping safely, but I have also seen some customers trying to shop without a mask and shopping in larger family groups…Please help us to keep all our colleagues and customers safe by always wearing a mask and by shopping alone. Everyone’s care and consideration matters now more than ever.”
Leisure
Nightclub operator Deltic Group has been sold to Scandinavian firm Rekom for £10m in a deal which saves the group following months of closure across the entire estate due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The deal saves 42 of the 52 Deltic Group estate including brands such a Prysm and will save 1,300 jobs.
The parent company which owns TGI Fridays is reportedly looking to sell off its portfolio of bars and restaurants and exit the sector. Electra Private Equity is also planning on selling other brands including Hotter Shoes and Sentinel before the end of 2021.
Greene King is continuing to support its tenants by reducing rent by 90% until the end of the current lockdown. The funding is alongside the government initiative which will see hospitality businesses able to claim up to £9,000. MD Wayne Shurvinton said in a statement: “The great British pub has been in a fight for its survival since the first lockdown in March 2020. We have stood shoulder to shoulder with our partners since that date and we are determined to keep doing all we can to support them now.”
Property
An agreement has been made with Broxborne Borough Council and Herfordshire County Council to redevelop the Brookfield Riverside scheme into a mixed-use asset. Plans for the work include 315,000 sq ft of retail, 250,000 sq ft of leisure including restaurants and a cinema alongside assisted living units and a new civic hub. Chris Geaves, CEO of Sovereign Centros, said in a statement: “This is a truly exciting development. It’s ground breaking and will be a new concept for retail and leisure in an area of the country where there is little competition and a very wealthy catchment of 1.5 million people within a 30 minute drive time with a market potential spend of £1bn.”
Shopping centre group Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) has launched a transformation program for the group in a bid to protect it against the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The plan includes work to ‘deleverage’ it’s portfolio through selected disposals as well as the employment of a ‘value creation strategy’ based on targeted allocation of resources.
Openings and closures
Chef Graeme Cheevers is to open his first solo restaurant, Unalome, in Glasgow, serving a weekly changing modern European menu; Warner Bros is to open its first Batman-themed ‘immersive' restaurant, based around the DC comic book universe, Park Row in London; Leisure and entertainment operator Gravity is to make its London debut this summer in Wandsworth’s Southside Shopping Centre; Korean fried chicken specialist Wing Wing will open a flagship restaurant in London’s Chinatown this spring.
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