The Poundland sale, UK-wide store closures and the group’s ongoing misfortunes are continuing to make headlines. Yesterday’s Q3 figures, which were widely reported (including by The Grocer) revealed that the discount retailer’s sales had continued to plummet while Pepco Group was preparing the sale to investment firm Gordon Brothers, with revenue falling by more than 10% and like-for-like sales down 7.1%.
The Poundland estate also shrank by 19 stores, from 818 to 799, during the same period. Picking up on this malaise, The Times reported that the proposed restructring plans have “spooked” suppliers, leaving Poundland with empty shelves and stock issues.
It said several major suppliers, including Procter & Gamble and Nestlé, had tightened up their payment terms with the retailer, cutting existing credit and reducing payment windows amid uncertainty over the retailer’s future.
According to the paper, both P&G household products and Nestlé chocolate were ”in short supply” across London stores this week.
In other Poundland news, Drapers reported that revenues has risen at Pepco Group following its sale ofthe discounter. It reported revenues of €1.1bn (£94m), a 7.7% rise year on year, for its third quarter (to 30 June). Like-for-like sales grew 2.6% in the same period.
The news that four people have been arrested for the M&S and Co-op cyberattacks has been widely covered in the press (see The Grocer’s coverage here), with varying degrees of focus on the suspects’ relatively young ages. The BBC also highlighted that ”while one of the suspects (a 19-year-old man) is from Latvia, the rest are from the UK”.
The four suspects were apprehended on suspicion of Computer Misuse Act offences, blackmail, money laundering and participating in the activities of an organised crime group.
The BBC said the arrest involved a large police operation, with dozens of NCA officers arriving in the early hours of this morning and smashing down the door of a family home, later removing a large number of electronic devices.
Paul Foster, head of the NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit, said the arrests were a “significant step” in its investigation. “But our work continues, alongside partners in the UK and overseas, to ensure those responsible are identified and brought to justice,” he added.
Consumers are expected to take much of the brunt for rising national insurance taxes, as employers admit they are planning to raise prices to cover the additional costs of higher payroll. The Times reported that just under 50% of firms surveyed by S&P Global said they planned to mitigate the increased costs by passing them on to consumers, raising concerns about ”persistently high inflation”.
Just over a third of businesses surveyed (36%) planned to reduce staff numbers to keep costs down, while 9% plan to cut wages.
One of BrewDog’s co-founders has stepped up his aim to be the UK’s ’market leader in medical cannabis’. Martin Dickie, who founded the craft beer brewer with James Watt in 2007, is planning to invest £20m in his new business over the next five years.
According to a report in The Times, he is currently preparing to harvest his first full crop of medical cannabis at one of the UK’s pioneering legal farms for the drug.
The new high-tech indoor vertical farm, Waterside Pharmaceuticals, plans to dramatically ramp up domestic production. While the first full harvest will provide less than 9kg of medical cannabis, this will increase to 200kg a year. Annual turnover is predicted to hit tens of millions of pounds.
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