Consumer confidence falls in November, Tesco rolls out electric car charging points and John Lewis launches click-and-collect in Booths stores.
Up-to-date coverage of the latest events in UK retail. Refresh this page to see the latest developments.
3.08pm Callaway Golf to acquire Jack Wolfskin
Shareholders of outdoor retailer and brand Jack Wolfskin have agreed to sell the business to Callaway Golf Company.
The €418m (£372.3m) deal is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2019.
1.00pm Fortnum & Mason hails ‘stellar year’
Fortnum & Mason has hailed a spike in sales and profits in what it dubbed a “stellar year of growth”.
The luxury food retailer said pre-tax profit jumped 26% to £9.6m in the year to July 31, 2018.
Revenues climbed 12% to £126m during the 12-month period, marking Fortnums’ sixth consecutive year of double-digit sales growth.
11:20am Hema private equity sale completes
Dutch general merchandise retailer Hema has been bought by private equity firm Ramphastos following approval from the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets.
Under Ramphastos’ ownership, Hema plans to invest in its core markets of the Netherlands and Belgium as well as international markets.
Hema launched in the UK in 2014 and has 10 stores here. Chief executive Tjeerd Jegen said earlier this year that it plans to open 75 shops in the UK.
10.08am Intu offloads trio of properties for £25m
Intu has agreed to sell three of its properties for a combined £25.5m as it ramps up its disposal programme.
The shopping centre landlord is selling Brierley Hill, near its Merry Hill shopping centre in the West Midlands, York House in Nottingham and the former BHS store in Derby.
Intu boss David Fischel said the deals were “evidence of our commitment to dispose of non-core assets and recycle capital into our exciting development programme”.
7.50am John Lewis launches click-and-collect at Booths
John Lewis and Partners has launched its click-and-collect service in northern grocer Booths as it vies to expand its next-day click-and-collect service to areas where it does not have a store.
The trial launched this week and is currently availabile at Booths stores in Garstang, Ilkley, Settle, St Annes and Media City, Salford.
Customers who place an order before 8pm will be able to collect their goods from the Booths stores after 2pm the next day and can also return unwanted items to the stores.
7.45am Tesco to put electric car charge points in 600 stores
Tesco has partnered with Volkswagen to roll out more than 2,400 electric charging bays at 600 stores over the next three years.
7.00am Consumer confidence drops in November
Consumer confidence fell three points to -13 in November, according to GfK’s long-running Consumer Confidence Index, as Brexit threatens to turn the season of goodwill into the “season of uncertainty”.