Sports Direct has acquired 20 stores, the
Slazenger Golf brand licence and all the stock
from collapsed rival JJB Sports for £23.8
million, plus up to a further £250,000 payable after
completion of a post-sale stock take. JJB appointed KPMG as
administrator on 1st October, after failing to sell the business.
The net proceeds of the sale will be used to repay JJB’s
outstanding debt to its lender and other secured creditors. The
Telegraph has a pictorial piece on the failed businesses of
2012.
Briggs Equipment UK Ltd, a UK provider of
materials handling equipment and part of US-based Sammons
Enterprises Inc, has acquired Barloworld
Handling UK’s assets for an undisclosed sum. The deal
means Briggs is the exclusive UK dealer for Hyster products. It
takes responsibility for sales and service of both the Hyster and
Yale brand of lift trucks in the UK.
Shop Direct-owned Isme has
invested £3.7 million in its autumn/winter campaign, a
year-on-year increase of more than 56 per cent. The ads, which
feature brand ambassador Lynda Bellingham, run throughout October
across TV, print and digital, switching to a more festive
treatment from 1st November to the end of the year. The
advertising campaign was developed in conjunction with Isme’s
retained creative agency, Contagious Content. The traditional
media and tactical digital campaigns were booked by Carat and
myThings respectively, while the TV advert was directed by Paul
Weiland.
Online retailer WAE+ is expanding its team with
new hires following a successful first year of trading. Justina
Richards is promoted to customer service team manager while Jamie
Blakemore joins as head of the order fulfilment department. The
business, which sells consumer electronics, office supplies,
parts and components, and wholesale food and drink products, beat
its projected revenue of £1.5 million in its first year,
achieving sales of £1.65 million. The company is expecting
to recruit more staff in the run up to Christmas.
Also hiring is Amazon, which will take on more
than 10,000 temporary workers in its UK fulfilment centres in the
run-up to the Christmas period. The creation of the seasonal
roles comes shortly after the opening of Amazon’s eighth UK
fulfilment centre, in Hemel Hempstead, which will create 600
permanent jobs. Amazon has also announced that it will create
2,000 additional permanent new jobs at three further UK
fulfilment centres over the next two years. In the last three
years, thousands of UK employees initially on temporary contracts
have moved into permanent roles.
Following the relaunch of its website earlier this year, plants
cataloguer Hayloft Plants has released a
mobile-friendly version of the site. The in-house development
team at Hayloft Plants designed and built the site in just two
months.
Daily-deals website Groupon has consolidated
responsibilities for its global sales and operations under one
leadership. Kal Raman is promoted to senior vice president,
global sales and operations, he was previously senior vice
president, Americas. Veit Dengler, senior vice president of
international, reports into him.
Fashion sales website SalesGossip, which offers
information on the latest flash sales, discounts and seasonal
reductions on the high street and online has secured its first
round of angel investment after winning a competition run by
social network LinkedIn and RBS.
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