Up-to-date coverage of the latest events in UK retail.

07:27am Rent the Runway expands into homewares with West Elm tie-up

The clothing rental subscription etailer, which currently has 10 million members, has partnered with West Elm to allow its customers to rent a selection of items to decorate their bedroom or living room curated by the homewares retailer.

Members will be able to select from a range of approximately 24 homeware bundles, which will consist of three to four individual items, and rent them in the same way they would an item of clothing.

06:58am Mike Ashley seeks to cull Debenhams board

Sports Direct has mounted a fresh attack on Debenhams board with a bid to oust all remaining directors bar one and appoint Mike Ashley as an executive director.

Sports Direct, which owns a nearly 30% stake in Debenhams, has called for a general meeting with the ailing department store’s shareholders to vote on Ashley’s coup attempt.

Ashley has pledged that, if his bid to seize control at Debenhams were successful, he would step down from the helm of Sports Direct and hand over the reins to the retailer’s deputy chief financial officer Chris Wootton.