Homewares retailer/cataloguer Oka has set up a scheme that will see its 158 staff awarded up to 10 percent of their salary as a bonus, reports the Telegraph. Oka recently unveiled its financial results, delivering EBITDA of £889,809 in 2011, up 88 percent on the previous year. It also recorded a profit after tax of £510, 942, while sales were up 17 per cent during the year.
N Brown, the parent company of Figleaves and Simply Be, is due to reveal a solid set of results later this week, fuelling rumours that a takeover bid may be on the cards. “Traders have said that N Brown would make an ideal buy for a major supermarket operator looking to expand its non-food offering,” writes the Scotsman.
Royal Mail saw its letters and parcels business inch back into the black after four years of losses. The division recorded an operating profit of £23 million, after modernisation costs, on revenues of £7.2 billion in the year ended 25th March. Last year, it posted a loss of £120 million.
The Sunday Times Style magazine leads with a piece called “Not so yummy now”, which discusses why the “Boden brigade” want to be cool. The article interviews Boden’s womenswear creative director Justine Tabak, who says, “Yes, of course our customers are mums, but it’s not something we feel is at the root of our inspiration.” So out are the “brightly printed A-line skirts, the cashmere knit thrown around the shoulders and the Hunter boots that have only seen the muddy fields of Fulham”. Also out, according to the Sunday Times, are vintage cakestands and cupcakes and home decor brand Farrow & Ball.
Staying with Boden, the catalogue, together with Marks and Spencer have come bottom in terms of value for money in a survey by Mintel. “In a blind test of seven retailers, Primark was voted best value for money, followed by Tesco’s F+F, Sainsbury’s Tu, H&M, Next, M&S and Boden”, writes the Daily Mail.
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