SecretSales.com, the UK-based private-sales
club, has secured an investment of £6.3 million from a
syndicate of investors. The investment round was led by Doughty
Hanson Technology Ventures, Pentech Ventures and OCP Innovation
and included Connect Ventures, Leoni Sceti Group and the
management team. Following the deal, co-founders Michael and
Silvia Cody step down from their active roles within the company
but remain shareholders. Chief executive Nish Kukadia and buying
director Sach Kukadia are joined on the board by fellow
shareholder Sergio Dias, formerly chief executive of
Germany-based Brands4friends.de, as executive
chairman.
Confectionery retailer Thorntons saw revenues
decline 2.6 per cent from £133.5 million to £130 million
in the 28 weeks ended 7th January. Pretax profit plunged 63
per cent from £8.4 million to £3.1 million during the
period. The company blames discounting for the negative impact on
revenues and margins. Nevertheless, Thorntons’ chief executive
Jonathan Hart, said the company had “made good
progress” in implementing its turnaround strategy
“while weathering a difficult market”. The store
closure programme is “on track” with 20 stores closed
during the period.
To further grow the business and return it to profitability,
Thorntons is investing in a new eCommerce website for launch this
spring.
Catalogue group Freemans Grattan Holdings has
awarded its £55 million UK contact centre services contract
to Serco. Under the 10-year agreement, Serco will service all of
FGH’s UK brands, including Grattan, Freemans, Oli,
Kaleidoscope, Look Again, Bonprix, Curvissa and
Witt International, managing seven million
customer contacts every year. The Sheffield-based contact centre
will manage customer enquiries, inbound and outbound sales,
credit applications, payments, order processing, mail and email
handling. The new partnership will see all 400 existing members
of staff transfer to Serco, with their terms and conditions
protected.
Thanks to “significant growth” in its eCommerce
division, Sports Direct is confident of hitting
its top EBITDA target of £225 million for the full year.
Total group sales for the 13 weeks ending 22nd January at the
sportswear retailer were up 9.1 per cent to £453.8 million,
while gross profit increased 10.2 per cent to £184.4
million.
In a bid to become truly multichannel, toy retailer The
Entertainer is integrating its stores, supply chain and
eCommerce operation. It chose the Retail Suite from retail
specialists Itim, alongside Hybris and Neoworks, to build a
multichannel eCommerce engine, master product catalogue,
real-time stock management, multichannel stock allocation and
replenishment, sophisticated order routing and management.The
Entertainer will also extend its current click & collect offer,
with the possibility of full despatch from store, allowing
optimum use of capacity and stock.
The Independent reports that apparel group
Aurora Fashions has appointed accountancy firm
BDO to help sell its stake in luxury womenswear label
Bastyan.
Only one bidder remains in the running for
Peacocks, reports the Scotsman.
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