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Businesses in financial trouble

fiza

By fiza
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  • 4 weeks later...
Arthur

Arthur

Posted
Posted

Mike Ashley in talks to buy music chain HMV

 

Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley has placed a bid to buy music chain HMV.

 

HMV collapsed last month, its second administration in six years, risking 2,200 jobs at 125 stores.

 

Sports Direct could not be reached for comment and administrators KPMG also declined to comment.

 

Mr Ashley owns more than 60% of Sports Direct, and through it he has bought retailers including the House of Fraser department store chain and Evans Cycles.

 

His company also owns stakes in French Connection and Debenhams.

 

Gaming link

After establishing Sports Direct in 1982, he built his business by buying up well-known names such as Dunlop, Slazenger, outdoor gear specialist Karrimor and the boxing brand Lonsdale.

 

After many years of growth and the demise of rivals such as JJB Sports, it is now the UK's largest sportswear retailer, with more than 400 stores including Lillywhites in London's Piccadilly.

 

Sports Direct also owns a stake in Game Digital, which Mr Ashley could merge with HMV if he is successful, Sky News said.

 

KPMG set a deadline of last Tuesday for bids for the stores, but has not named any bidders. There is said to be no deadline for a decision.

 

Mike Ashley is on a shopping spree. :)

  • 1 month later...
Katy

Katy

Posted
Posted
Office Outlet bites the dust - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47626280

Which is a bit annoying as I was going to pop into the one in Preston tomorrow!

 

Surprised it has taken this long to be honest - worked there when it was Office World (my last day was the official store re-opening when we were taken over by Staples in April 2005) - the combined company had far too many stores so must have been bleeding money like mad.

 

Although in another way didn't expect it this soon as the store I used to work in has only just recently closed and moved a couple of units to where Maplin was (much nicer although smaller unit).

Arthur

Arthur

Posted
Posted

Travel firm Thomas Cook is closing 21 stores across the country and cutting more than 300 jobs

 

The company said 102 customer-facing roles would be axed as a result of the store closures, while it planned to cut a further 218 jobs “following a review of the retail workforce”.

 

It said holidaymakers continued to switch bookings from stores to online.

 

In September, Thomas Cook said profits would be hit after the summer heatwave saw many take their holidays in the UK.

 

It issued a third profit warning in November, when it said winter bookings were also down.

 

The shop closures will take the number of Thomas Cook outlets down to 566.

 

It said a consultation with staff and unions had begun.

 

The firm’s chief of tour operating, Will Waggott, said: “Today’s announcement reflects the wider challenges seen on the High Street, with more and more customers choosing to book online.”

 

Thomas Cook said 64% of all its bookings in the UK were made online last year.

 

^ Why not close all of the shops and move completely online before it's too late?

mavhc

mavhc

Posted
Posted
Or do something actually new, like video chat with a live person to book holidays, people with actual experience of where they're recommending, work with locals etc
rich_tech

rich_tech

Posted
Posted
Surprised it has taken this long to be honest - worked there when it was Office World (my last day was the official store re-opening when we were taken over by Staples in April 2005) - the combined company had far too many stores so must have been bleeding money like mad.

 

Although in another way didn't expect it this soon as the store I used to work in has only just recently closed and moved a couple of units to where Maplin was (much nicer although smaller unit).

 

Didnt surprise me either, it was awfully more expensive than Staples too when they took them over

  • 3 weeks later...
6Foot2

6Foot2

Posted
Posted

Link: Debenhams falls into hands of lenders [bBC News]

 

Control of Debenhams has fallen into the hands of its lenders as part of an administration process.

 

Debenhams has 166 stores, which will initially continue to trade, although about 50 branches had already been earmarked for closure in the future.

 

The department store rejected last-ditch rescue offers from Mike Ashley's Sports Direct, which has been locked in an acrimonious battle for control.

 

Its lenders are made up of High Street banks and US hedge funds.

 

These include Barclays and Bank of Ireland, as well as Silver Point and GoldenTree.

 

The administrators said the lenders would now look to sell the business as soon as possible...

Dos_Box

Dos_Box

Posted
Posted

Apparently this has completely wiped out Mike Ashley's stake in the company (along with all the other shareholders) - https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/apr/09/debenhams-is-taken-over-by-lenders-mike-ashley-loses-sta

The comment about online retailers damaging high-street stores is valid, but not to the extent many imagine as clothing and footwear was still one of the last areas that consumers felt comfortable ordering online with due to the variability of fit and sizes.

I bought two summer tops from Debenhams last week. If it wasn't for the fact it was buy one, get one half price, I wouldn't have bothered as even for t-shirt type tops, they were still relatively expensive.

  • 1 month later...
Arthur

Arthur

Posted
Posted

Jamie Oliver restaurant chains face collapse

 

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's restaurant group is facing collapse, putting up to 1,300 jobs at risk.

 

Jamie's Italian chain have lined up KPMG to handle an administration process, expected to be announced later.

 

Conversations with employees at the chain are understood to be ongoing.

 

As well as the Italian chain, the administration process would encompass Mr Oliver's remaining Barbecoa sites as well as Fifteen London.

Arthur

Arthur

Posted
Posted

... and another.

 

British Steel insolvency endangers 5,000 jobs

 

British Steel has been placed in compulsory liquidation, putting 5,000 jobs at risk and endangering 20,000 in the supply chain.

 

The move follows a breakdown in rescue talks between the government and the company's owner, Greybull.

 

The Government's Official Receiver has taken control of the company as part of the liquidation process.

 

The search for a buyer for British Steel has already begun. In the meantime, it will trade normally.

 

British Steel has about 5,000 employees. There are 3,000 at Scunthorpe, with another 800 on Teesside and in north-eastern England.

  • 3 weeks later...
Arthur

Arthur

Posted
Posted
I agree, though that particular item is the same price on AMZ: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07KLLNTY6

It's a shame the new Maplin doesn't sell cheaper alternatives like those from Anker, Aukey or UGreen, but I guess there isn't enough of a profit margin with those?

 

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0793NSXKF

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B079Z5DZXB

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06Y25Y6WX

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B071WNXY1R

 

Personally I can't see them staying in business for long.

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