Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

B&M sales up during lockdown as DIY equipment demand surged

Liverpool-based discount retailer B&M registered 22.7 per cent increase in sales in the eight weeks to May 23 due to high demand for its DIY and gardening products during the lockdown. Excluding these products, sales were up by 10.3 per cent.

Majority of B&M's 950 shops were open during the crisis as they sold food items. Shares in B&M rose by 15¾p, or 4.3 per cent, to 385¼p in mid-morning trading on Friday (29), reported The Times.


The B&M is a dominant force in the UK retail sector. The brothers Simon and Bobby Arora bought the business in 2004 and, after rapid expansion, listed it in 2014.

Arora brothers-Simon, Bobby and Robin Arora-were in the sixth position in the 2019 Asian Rich List with a net worth of £2.3 billion.

“B&M is doing its bit in terms of keeping our customers supplied with the things they need a week in, week out during this period of enormous disruption to the normal operation of the business,” said Simon Arora, the chief executive.

The B&M boss said he did not expect this present level of trading to continue as normal shopping patterns resume and said that the warm spring weather and lockdown had meant that certain purchases of summer stock had been pulled forward.

In the early stages of the Covid-19 crisis, B&M came under fire from its workforce for keeping its stores open. They said they were being put at unnecessary risk of being infected by coronavirus by serving customers who were buying non-essential products without appropriate safety measures.

The management, however, assured that they had put in place a range of protective measures including screened checkouts, distanced queueing and a frequent cleaning regime across the business.

More For You

JLR-Tata-Getty

JLR had initially planned to manufacture more than 70,000 electric vehicles at the facility. (Photo: Getty Images)

JLR halts plan to build EVs at Tata’s India plant: Report

JAGUAR LAND ROVER (JLR) has put on hold plans to manufacture electric vehicles at Tata Motors’ upcoming £775 million factory in southern India, according to a news report.

The decision was influenced by challenges in balancing price and quality for locally sourced EV components, three of the sources said. They added that slowing demand for electric vehicles was also a factor.

Keep ReadingShow less
Government to abolish payments regulator to boost growth

Keir Starmer (R) and Rachel Reeves host an investment roundtable discussion with members of the BlackRock executive board at 10 Downing Street on November 21, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Frank Augstein - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Government to abolish payments regulator to boost growth

PAYMENTS REGULATOR will be abolished and its remit absorbed by another financial regulator, the government said on Tuesday (11), as it aims to cut red tape in favour of growth.

The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), which oversees systems including MasterCard and bank transfers, tackles problems such as fraud, excessive fees and lack of competition among banks and payment providers.

Keep ReadingShow less
Boohoo

Boohoo’s shares, which have fallen by about 20 per cent this year, dropped 4 per cent on Tuesday. (Photo: Getty Images)

Boohoo rebrands as Debenhams after 21 per cent sales drop

BOOHOO has rebranded itself as Debenhams Group after sales from its young fashion brands, including Boohoo, MAN, and PrettyLittleThing, declined by 21 per cent to £947 million.

The move comes amid strong competition from Shein and a shift towards second-hand clothing among younger shoppers, The Guardian reported.

Keep ReadingShow less