Multititle catalogue group Flying Brands, which
operates the Gardening Direct and Flying
Flowers catalogues, has announced further acquisitions.
It has bought London florist Drake Algar for
£500,000 and is to buy Garden Centre
Online, an online retailer of gardening hardware, for
£130,000.
In addition, it has confirmed that an agreement has been reached
to dispose of its “noncore” collectibles business
Benham in order to free up capital and resources
to invest in its main gardening and gifts divisions. Flying
Brands did not disclose the identity of the potential buyer, but
says it has entered into heads of agreement in respect of the
sale, and expects it to complete in September.
Operating profit from continuing operations (excluding one-off
items and Greetings Direct the discontinued
greeting-cards division) for the 26 weeks ended 2nd July was
£1.44 million compared to £2 million in 2009. Revenue
from the continuing business was £15.59 million compared to
£16.69 million last year.
Aurora Fashions, the parent company of fashion
chains Oasis, Coast,
Karen Millen, and Warehouse,
has promoted Liz Evans to managing director of Oasis and
appointed former LK Bennett chief executive
Margaret McDonald as managing director of Coast.
The
Scotsman waxes lyrical about the experience at perfumer
Ormonde Jayne‘s Bond Street store.
According to a piece in the Guardian, some 3 million people are “in
the queue” to receive compensation due to the misselling of
payment protection insurance. Back in 2007, the Financial
Services Authority fined cataloguer Redcats
£270,000 for selling PPI unsuitable for its customers’
individual needs.
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