MBS Intelligence

The UK’s challenger consumer brands are redefining what it means to scale in today’s complex manufacturing and innovation landscape. While these brands have long been celebrated for their agility and

At MBS, our conviction that changing consumer spending decisions could transform healthcare underpinned our decision to establish this practice nearly four years ago. Despite being a service industry at heart,

Browse by Topic

Diversity and inclusion has been a hot topic in retail during 2025 – possibly for all the wrong reasons. For example, back in January shortly

At MBS, our conviction that changing consumer spending decisions could transform healthcare underpinned our decision to establish this practice nearly four years ago. Despite being

Earlier this year, Elliott and I had the privilege of being shown around Bourdon House, dunhill’s flagship store in Mayfair. It has been the brand’s

The UK’s challenger consumer brands are redefining what it means to scale in today’s complex manufacturing and innovation landscape. While these brands have long been

Diversity and inclusion has been a hot topic in retail during 2025 – possibly for all the wrong reasons. For example, back in January shortly

The biodiversity crisis is an urgent and irreversible side-effect of the climate emergency. “Nearly three-quarters of the animals that existed in 1970 don’t exist today,”

Events & Thought Leadership

The MBS Group is once again delighted to have partnered with WiHTL and DiR to publish the Role Models for Inclusion in Hospitality, Travel, Leisure

Almost eighteen months ago, in front of a robotic arm at the high-tech National Composites Centre in Bristol, then-Opposition Leader Sir Keir Starmer set out

MBS News

DFS set to beat guidance following strong trading. Annual profits at the sofa specialist are expected to come in “slightly above top end guidance” after strong trading continued into the second half. Group order intake was up 10% year-on-year and profit guidance sits between £25-29m up from £10.5m.
Dunelm’s Q4 sales rise. The homeware specialist saw a 4% uplift in Q4 revenues while full year sales to 28 June rose 3.8% to £1.77bn. It has said it has made “good progress against strategic priorities” and expects to report its full-year profits in line with consensus.
Shiseido sees slowdown. Shiseido has reported a c.40% drop in earnings for 2023 after being impacted by China’s recovery post-Covid. Operating profits dropped from ¥46.5bn to ¥28.1bn. It said Japan’s decision to release treated radioactive water into the ocean had impacted sales.
L’Oréal invests in To Summer. The French beauty giant has continued to invest in the Chinese market, after making a minority investment in the high-end Chinese perfume house To Summer. By the end of 2024, the Chinese beauty market is expected to reach €49bn.
Frasers Group reports rise in profits. The Flannels owner reported adjusted pre-tax profit of £560.2m which was an increase of 2.8%. It says it expects this to be between £550m and £600m for the current year as it seeks to address “various macro headwinds”.
Richemont sees jewellery sales soar in Q1. Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Richemont’s other jewellers saw 11% growth at constant rates in the three months to 30 June. Sales were up 6% to €5.4bn while specialist watchmakers also performed better with declines ‘softening’.
Ocado Group posts surge in first-half earnings. EBITDA rose to £91.8m from £52m in the first half, while revenue was ahead 13.2% to £674m. The company, which sells bespoke technology to other retailers and operates a joint venture in the UK with M&S, is focused on becoming cashflow-positive next year.
About You grows revenue and earnings following Zalando acquisition. The fashion e-commerce group posted 6% revenue growth and a 79% rise in EBITDA for Q1 2025/26. About You cited strong customer growth, cost discipline and favourable weather as key drivers following its takeover by Zalando.
Apollo in talks to buy stake in Atletico Madrid. The private equity firm is in talks to take a stake in Spain’s third-biggest football club, This emerged out of Atletico’s search for investors to back an €800m real estate project next to its stadium. A recent report valued the club at €1.9bn.
Hyve enters behavioural health sector with acquisition of US-based BHT. The events organiser, backed by Providence Equity and Searchlight Capital, has acquired Arizona-based Behavioural Health Tech. It is Hyve’s fourth deal in a year and expands its healthcare footprint amid rising sector demand.
Brakspear profits better than pre-pandemic levels. For the year ending 25 December 2022, pub operator Brakspear saw profits and EBITDA ahead of pre-Covid levels. Underlying profit before tax recovered to £6.5m, compared to £5.8m in 2019.
Haven investing £18m to create flagship site. Haven is investing £18m to transform a Kent holiday park into its flagship site with a new name and concepts. It forms part of the holiday park operator’s £170m development plan across its parks in 2023, with £230m already invested over the last two years.

Certification Note

Certified B Corporation” is a trademark licensed by B Lab, a private non-profit organization, to companies like ours that have successfully completed the B Impact Assessment (“BIA”) and therefore meet the requirements set by B Lab for social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. It is specified that B Lab is not a conformity assessment body as defined by Regulation (EU) No 765/2008, nor is it a national, European, or international standardization body as per Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012. The criteria of the BIA are distinct and independent from the harmonized standards resulting from ISO norms or other standardization bodies, and they are not ratified by national or European public institutions.