Ten percent of shares in the privatised Royal Mail would be set
aside for the workforce, said business secretary Vince Cable in a
speech to the Liberal Democrat conference. According to the
Guardian, the leaders of the Communication
Workers Union are “vehemently opposed” to such a
scheme describing the government’s plans as “deeply
patronising”.
The Hut Group has been named the fourth fastest
growing company in the UK by the Sunday Times Tech Track
100. The Hut, which operates Zavvi and
I Want One of Those amongst others, experienced
growth of 162 percent in the past four years-sales rose from
£2.98 million in 2006/7 to £53.6 million in
2009/10.
UK-based retailer Next has signed an exclusive
deal with Sears to have its clothing sold online
in the US via Sears.com.
Apparel brand Ben Sherman appointed Antonio
Cvijanovic as head of retail. Cvijanovic is responsible for
overseeing all aspects of Ben Sherman’s retail operations and
international expansion, including ecommerce.
Faced with a debt of £575 million that it cannot pay back,
DVD-rental chain Blockbuster is expected to file for bankruptcy
any day now. In the first six months of 2010, writes the Independent, revenues declined 16 percent,
and losses plunged from approximately £5.9 million in the
same period last year to £85.6 million.
Zara‘s new website, which went live on 2nd
September in France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain and UK, has
had a “satisfactory” customer reception, said parent
company Inditex in a statement. Zara now plans to launch online
selling in Austria, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium and
Luxembourg during the second half of 2010, extending the platform
to US, Canada, South Korea and Japan by the end of 2011.
John Lewis has extended its Never Knowingly
Undersold promise online. This Is Money writes that John Lewis will now
match the web prices charged by other retailers that have a
mainstream high street or shopping mall outlet. However, it won’t
match the prices of online-only retailers such as Amazon.
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