Euan Sutherland, Kingfisher’s chief operating officer told analysts and reporters on a media visit that Screwfix “could sit pretty well in the French market”, writes Reuters. According to reports, Sutherland said the Screwfix model was “quite unique and I don’t see it replicated anywhere else in Europe, so there’s potential to take it out there”.
Arcadia boss Sir Philip Green wants to use more UK-based factories to supply his clothing empire, reports the Mail on Sunday. He told the newspaper he is giving more work to British suppliers and cutting his dependence on overseas manufacturing centres such as China, where costs are rising.
Debenhams is continuing its overseas expansion by opening its first ever store in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Its second store in Abu Dhabi opened on 13th October. By the end of this week (20th October), a third Debenhams store will open in Riyadh, in Rabwa. Both these latest two stores will be run by Debenhams’ partner Alshaya Retail.
The Sunday Times profiles WHSmith’s outgoing chief executive Kate Swann. It notes that during her tenure, WHSmith’s “share price has more than doubled, profits have soared, underperforming businesses have been sold off and the group has returned £450 million to shareholders” all of which was achieved when other high street businesses have collapsed
(Woolworths, Zavvi) or are “soldiering on with varying degrees of success” (HMV, Clinton Cards). The article also ponders her next move, linking Swann to top roles at Marks & Spencer, Tesco and even tipping her as Terry Duddy’s successor at Argos parent Home Retail Group.
According to the Daily Mail, Boden fans are up in arms after the cataloguer hired “sultry Helena Christensen – particularly famed for her lingerie shoots” to model its latest range. Apparently one angry customer wrote to founder Johnny Boden “asking whether he was ‘getting a little too famous himself and forgetting what the real middle classes want’”.
Retailers Aurora Fashions (8th place, sales of £568.8 million), Pets at Home (22nd, £508.1 million), Selfridges (39th, £443.5 million), Direct Wines (81st, £343.9 million), Lush (130th, £272.2 million), Card Factory (139th, £265.5 million), Boden (152nd, £245.9 million) and All Saints (192nd, £208.6 million) have all been named in the Sunday Times Top Track 250, a table ranking Britain’s leading mid-market private companies.
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