Retail news round-up on February 28, 2014: Pets at Home valued at up to £1.3bn as it sets float price range, OpCapita boss Henry Jackson steps down from Game, Consumer confidence remains high and New Look hires new digital boss.

Pets at Home valued at up to £1.3bn as it sets price range

Pets at Home has set the price range of 210p to 260p which would give it a market capitalisation of up to £1.05bn to £1.3bn.

Around 85% of the offer will be allocated to institutional investors while 15% of the offer will be allocated to members of the public and Pets at Home staff.

GfK says British consumer confidence stays at -7 in February

Consumer morale in the UK held steady as expected in February, while matching January’s level, according to a survey from GfK researchers. The consumer sentiment was at its highest for more than six years. GfK’s headline consumer confidence index stayed at -7 this month, which, like January’s figure, was the best reading since September 2007, around the start of the financial crisis.

The index stood at -26 just a year ago. The survey of 2,000 people aged over 16 was conducted from January 31 to February 16, and was carried out by GfK on behalf of the European Commission.

New Look hires group digital director from Deloitte

New Look has poached Deloitte’s Jack Smith to take up the newly created role of group digital director, Drapers reported. Smith will join the fashion retailer in March. This appointment comes as it plans to strengthen its international digital strategy. He joined Deloitte UK as senior manager in 2007.

Separately, New Look is also seeking a group IT director following Dan West’s departure. West took up the position in January 2013 and oversaw the chain’s IT department, reporting to chief executive Anders Kristiansen.

OpCapita chief executive Henry Jackson steps down as Capitex Holdings director

Private investment firm OpCapita chief executive, the controversial financier Henry Jackson is quitting as director of Capitex Holdings, the company that controls Game Retail, according to documents filed with Companies House. Jackson’s departure comes as the UK video games retailer mulls a £300m London stock market flotation.

Jackson is stepping down because the consultancy services provided by OpCapita in the early stages of the acquisition had for some time been carried out by Game’s management team, led by chief executive Martyn Gibbs, the Financial Times reported. OpCapita is expected to retain a small financial interest in Game after its float. People familiar with the situation pointed out that his departure was simply a reflection of how the business had evolved, and Jackson’s other time commitments