MBS News

Monday
September 06, 2010

Industry headlines from Moira Benigson Executive Search

Retail

Waterstone's Founder Poised To Buy Back Bookseller

Waterstone’s founder, Tim Waterstone, is reportedly considering a £100m-plus bid to buy the book chain from its parent HMV, if it fails to turn the business around by the end of the year.

M&S To Raise £1m For Oxfam

Marks & Spencer has partnered with Oxfam to create a one-day event where customers can donate unwanted clothing into M&S stores to raise £1m for the charity.

Sir Stuart Rose Hints At TV Career

Marks & Spencer chairman Sir Stuart Rose has hinted of his interest in fronting a Troubleshooter-style business TV show after he stands down from the retailer.

Consumer Goods

African Lager Windhoek Gets Autumn Push

Diageo is spending £400,000 in September and October to raise awareness of its Windhoek lager, which was launched in the UK in May.

Innocent To Open East London Pop-Up Café

Ethical smoothie and drinks maker, Innocent, is opening a pop-up café in East London. Each item on the menu will contain the recommended five-a-day intake of fruit and vegetables.

Digital And Online

eBay’s Fine In LVMH Court Case Reduced

eBay has had its fine over fake LVMH products sold on its site slashed by a French court of appeal. The court ruled that eBay should pay €5.7m, rather than the initial €38.5m to the luxury group.

Space NK To Overhaul Online Presence To Grow e-Commerce

Space NK will revamp its online presence as it attempts to grow its e-commerce offering. Part of the plan is to consolidate the UK and US sites.

Fashion, Lifestyle And Luxury

Karstadt Bought By Max Azria And Berggruen

Private investor Nicolaus Berggruen and the BCBG Max Azria Group has finalised its takeover of insolvent German department store chain Karstadt.

Retailers And Brands Will Host Car Boot Sales At Westfield London

Shopping centre Westfield London will host a branded car boot sale this month, with designs and exclusive pieces from retailers and brands such as Topshop, Whistles and House of Fraser.

Travel And Leisure

Oak’s £350m Leisure Park Plan Takes Root

Leisure business operator, Oak Holdings, has recevied permission to go ahead with its “YES! Project,” a £350m plan for one of the biggest leisure and convention centres in Europe.

Air France-KLM Eyes New Low-Cost Carrier

Air France-KLM is reportedly in discussions to establish a “low-cost” domestic carrier in an attempt to win back market share in France.

On The Move

Sainsbury’s Justin King To Advise Prime Minister

Sainsbury’s chief executive Justin King is understood to be among the business leaders to become advisers to Prime Minister David Cameron.

Diageo Names New Global Brand Director For Smirnoff

Diageo has appointed Simon Burch as the new global brand director for Smirnoff, following Philip Gladman’s promotion to marketing director for Diageo in the UK. Burch joined Diageo in 2005, as marketing VP in Canada and was most recently senior VP of vodka and rums for North America.

The Weatherman Says...

When I was a kid, we had Sinclairs, Amstrads and IBM. Can you believe email has only really been around, for most of us, since '93? These days our online lives consist of Gmail, Facebook, Flickr, Vimeo, YouTube, Venda, iPhoto, Photoshop, Twitter, Wordpress, blogs and many many more. Unbelievable! I grew up playing Space Invaders. The weather is still holding (kind of), but I think there is some rain on the way. Some of it heavy. Temperatures slowly dipping.