Sales boost for John Lewis.
Cut price cashmere jumpers helped keep John Lewis in upbeat mood yesterday as it posted bumper figures in the first week of its January sale.The department store chain reported sales of pounds 77m from December 27 until January 2, which was up 8.2% on the same period last year.
Wine warehouse chain 4.4% lift
WINE warehouse chain Majestic said yesterday it was "pleased" with trading over Christmas after like-for-like sales improved 4.4% on a year earlier.
The group, which has 133 outlets, said wines from Bordeaux, Burgundy, Spain and New Zealand sold particularly well.
Little Chef calls in administrators
ROADSIDE restaurant chain Little Chef has called in the administrators after failing to find a buyer or a new finance deal.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is to wind up the business and has already sold 196 of the group's 235 restaurant sites to private equity company RCapital, saving "the majority" of 4,000 Little Chef jobs.
Brickmaker 23% profits rise likely
THE owner of the UK's largest brickmaker CRH said yesterday it was on course for a 23% profits rise, despite the impact of a weakening US construction market.
The Dublin-based building materials firm, which owns the UK bricks firm Ibstock, hailed a strong performance in 2006 with full-year pre-tax profits expected to be around 23% ahead of 2005.
Boom time for online retailer
ONLINE rock clothing retailer EBTM (Everything But The Music) said yesterday it had enjoyed a bumper Christmas as music and bands continued to be a "key driver of fashion".
EBTM said sales almost trebled to pounds 350,000.
Funding secured
CAMBRIDGE-based Plastic Logic has secured millions of pounds of funding to build the world's first plant for making flexible, credit card-thin electronic screens. The company has got a pounds 50.9m funding package from US venture capitalists Oak Investment Partners and Tudor Investment Corporation for the site in Germany.
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Publication: | The Journal (Newcastle, England) |
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Date: | Jan 4, 2007 |
Words: | 314 |
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