Beauty products retailer Feelunique has been acquired by Palamon Capital Partners for £26 million. As part of the deal, Palamon is to purchase a majority shareholding from the founders and earlier-stage investors and provide further capital to support the company’s growth plan. Sirius Equity is investing alongside Palamon. Following Palamon’s investment, Sirius cofounder and LK Bennett chairman Robert Bensoussan will join Feelunique’s board as chairman. Aaron Chatterley, Feelunique’s chief executive remains in the role.
Online department store Very.co.uk is taking over the shopfront of an unoccupied store in the heart of Liverpool’s shopping and leisure complex, Liverpool One, throughout December. The digital “window shop” will feature billboards incorporating both near field communication (NFC) and QR code functionalities allowing passers-by to scan items via their smartphones and shop the wider Very.co.uk website, with their purchases delivered free the following day if ordered before 9 pm. While brick-and-mortar stores aren’t necessarily on the agenda, Shop Direct’s group retail director Gareth Jones says “vacant shop windows offer a unique digital opportunity to get our brands and products in front of shoppers while they’re already on the high street and in browsing or buying mode”. If this pilot goes well, Shop Direct will consider rolling out further next year, making use of other vacant high street units.
Sir Terry Leahy, the former chief executive of Tesco, “is in the leading position to take over the chairmanship of online retailer The Hut Group”, reports the Telegraph. Incumbent chairman Angus Monroe completes his three-year term in March but has not ruled himself out of the process.
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