{"id":433365,"date":"2025-09-18T10:08:43","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T10:08:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/433365\/"},"modified":"2025-09-18T10:08:43","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T10:08:43","slug":"next-warns-over-uks-anaemic-economy-after-tax-raid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/433365\/","title":{"rendered":"Next warns over UK\u2019s \u2018anaemic\u2019 economy after tax raid"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Deliveroo co-founder and boss Will Shu has confirmed that he is to step down from the takeaway delivery group after its sale to DoorDash, an American rival.<\/p>\n

Shu, a former Goldman Sachs banker who founded the business in London in 2013, said he will step down as chief executive once the \u00a32.9 billion takeover is complete.<\/p>\n

In May, Deliveroo bosses agreed for the business to be bought by San Francisco-based DoorDash for 180p a share. That was less than half the 390p set at 2021\u2019s infamous IPO, but a premium to the 140p level to which they had sunk in the subsequent four years.<\/p>\n

Shu is estimated to be in line for a \u00a3185 million payday from the deal.<\/p>\n

Deliveroo\u2019s non-executive directors, which include the Caf\u00e9 Rouge founder, Dame Karen Jones, and the Flutter boss, Peter Jackson, will all also step down once the takeover is complete, expected in October.<\/p>\n

Shu said: \u201cI\u2019m super proud of everything we have achieved. We pioneered and then redefined a new category.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rank Group chairman exits after six years\"Grosvenor<\/p>\n

Grosvenor Casino, owned by Rank Group, in Blackpool<\/p>\n

RANK<\/p>\n

Alex Thursby is to step down as chairman of Rank Group next month after six years in the role, the gambling company behind Grosvenor casinos and Mecca bingo halls announced this morning.<\/p>\n

Rank said the hunt for a replacement is \u201cwell advanced\u201d with a successor expected to be announced within the next couple of months. In the meantime, Karen Whitworth, a senior independent director on the board, will stand in as interim chairwoman.<\/p>\n

John O\u2019Reilly, Rank\u2019s chief executive, said the group\u2019s \u201crecent successes and outlook are due in no small part to his [Thursby\u2019s] sure-footed guidance and invaluable leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a tough few years navigating weak visitor numbers in the aftermath of the pandemic, Rank, which operates more than 100 venues, is now enjoying the fruits of its turnaround with profits more than tripling last year to \u00a353.9 million as it continued to invest across its estate. Its shares have risen almost 70 per cent in the past 12 months.<\/p>\n

Kraken breaks free from Octopus Energy\"Portrait<\/p>\n

Amir Orad, the chief executive of Octopus Energy\u2019s technology arm, Kraken<\/p>\n

Octopus Energy, the UK\u2019s largest energy supplier, is to spin off its technology arm, Kraken, into a separate company.<\/p>\n

The business could go public with a stock market listing, likely to be in London or New York, in the next 12 months valued at as much as $15 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.<\/p>\n

Contracted revenue at the unit has increased fourfold in the past three years to $500 million, driven by licensing deals with energy majors such as EDF, E.ON Next and National Grid US. It runs more than 70 million household and business accounts worldwide.<\/p>\n

Octopus said the spin-off would allow Kraken to accelerate investments into its technology, expand into new energy markets and drive innovation.<\/p>\n

Amir Orad, the chief executive of Kraken, said: \u201cOctopus has been a phenomenal founding partner and first client. Kraken is now a globally successful business in its own right, operating independently for some time \u2014 completing our journey to full independence is a strategic and inevitable next step.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bloomsbury names Guardian\u2019s Keith Underwood as finance chief\"Harry<\/p>\n

Harry Potter books by JK Rowling published by Bloomsbury<\/p>\n

SUZANNE PLUNKETT\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

Bloomsbury Publishing has named the Guardian Media Group\u2019s Keith Underwood as its finance and operating chief .<\/p>\n

Underwood, 49, is currently the chief financial officer and chief operating officer at the publisher of The Guardian newspaper, and has previously worked at Channel 4, Sky, and PwC. He is set to assume office in February, taking over from the long-time finance director Penny Scott-Bayfield.<\/p>\n

The Harry Potter publisher has seen profit soar from demand for Sarah J Maas\u2019s
\u201cromantasy\u201d books such as the A Court of Thorns and Roses series. It has also recently expanded into academic books and digital resources.<\/p>\n

Berenberg analysts said the appointment was \u201ca positive\u201d and Underwood\u2019s expertise would help in improving efficiency and in securing content licensing deals.<\/p>\n

Pets at Home shares tumble after boss leaves\"a<\/p>\n

Lyssa McGowan, with Luna, a six-year-old Yorkshire Terrier<\/p>\n

LUCY YOUNG FOR THE TIMES<\/p>\n

Lyssa McGowan, the boss of Pets at Home since 2022, has left effective immediately after the company issued its second profit warning in two months \u2013 sending shares down to their lowest since March 2020.<\/p>\n

In an unscheduled trading update, the FTSE 250 retailer said in-store sales had fallen 5 per cent in the year-to-date, against guidance for 1 per cent growth across the business. It said the pet retail market has remained subdued, and that although the retail business has narrowed the gap to the market \u201cthe rate of improvement has been below expectations\u201d.<\/p>\n

Pets now expects underlying profit before tax for the year to March 2026 in the range of \u00a390 to \u00a3100 million against a previously guided \u00a3115 to \u00a3125 million.<\/p>\n

The current non-executive chair Ian Burke has assumed the role of executive chair until a permanent successor is appointed. The update sent shares in Pets down by 20 per cent.<\/p>\n

McGowan, 47, who had been chief consumer officer at Sky UK for 12 years, was appointed chief executive in June 2022 replacing Peter Pritchard. <\/p>\n

In a rare interview, she told the Times last year<\/a> that while retail was new to her \u201cI had a very complementary skillset.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next flags UK labour pressures\"Simon<\/p>\n

Lord Wolfson of Aspley Guise, the chief executive of Next<\/p>\n

REUTERS<\/p>\n

Back to Next, the high-street bellwether whose boss Lord Wolfson of Aspley Guise\u2019s thoughts are always worth a close look. This time, alongside impressive results, the chief executive has issued a brutal warning about the \u201canaemic\u201d state of the UK economy.<\/p>\n

The group said the rise to national insurance contributions (NICs) and the minimum wage was leading to a steep drop in vacancies. Within its own business, job vacancies are down 35 per cent while applications have jumped 76 per cent, with numbers per vacancy 2.7 times higher than two years ago.<\/p>\n

Wolfson wrote: \u201cThe medium to long-term outlook for the UK economy does not look favourable.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be clear, we do not believe the UK economy is approaching a cliff edge. At best we expect
anaemic growth, with progress constrained by four factors: declining job opportunities, new
regulation that erodes competitiveness, government spending commitments that are beyond its
means, and a rising tax burden that undermines national productivity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The warning sent shares in Next down 6 per cent on market opening, despite the group posting a 13.8 per cent rise in underlying pre-tax profits to \u00a3515 million for the six months to the end of July.<\/p>\n

Bank of England advised to hold rates at 4%\"The<\/p>\n

The Bank of England<\/p>\n

TOLGA AKMEN\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

All eyes turn to the Bank of England at noon today, with policymakers on the nine-member monetary committee advised to hold rates at 4 per cent by The Times\u2019 own shadow MPC.<\/p>\n

Our panel believes that policymakers should wait until after the budget on November 26 before considering lowering borrowing costs again in order to get clarity over the government\u2019s tax and spending plans.<\/p>\n

You can read their latest verdict here<\/a>. Our economics team has posted a full preview of what to expect from today\u2019s meeting, in particular over the fraught issue of bond sales, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Advertising house warns on sales as profits fall<\/p>\n

Shares in M&C Saatchi took a sharp hit after the storied advertising house warned that it expects like-for-like sales to fall this year as anxious clients defer spending decisions, particularly in Australia.<\/p>\n

Analysts had forecast the company\u2019s operating profit to increase to \u00a337.6 million for 2025, according to a company-compiled consensus.<\/p>\n

The warning comes after operating profit for the six months to June 30 fell 36 per cent to \u00a310.3 million, weighed down by investments in the first quarter and a drop in revenue.<\/p>\n

Shares in M&C, whose clients include Amazon, Meta, Adidas and Burberry, have retreated by almost a fifth in the past 12 months and lost another 5 per cent in early trading.<\/p>\n

Renishaw profits rise as engineer eyes growth opportunities<\/p>\n

Renishaw\u2019s annual profits beat expectations to rise 3.8 per cent to \u00a3127.2 million on an adjusted basis in the 12 months to the end of June, from \u00a3122.6 million last year.<\/p>\n

Revenue over the period rose 3.1 per cent to a record \u00a3713 million, up from \u00a3691.3 million.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s full-year results were the first without the company\u2019s visionary co-founder and long-time leader, Sir David McMurtry<\/a>, who died in December at the age of 84.<\/p>\n

Will Lee, the chief executive, said the FTSE 250 precision engineer made solid progress despite \u201cchallenging market conditions\u201d. He added: \u201cDespite the continued global uncertainty, the structural drivers that underpin our markets are presenting growth opportunities across our businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Debenhams revives designer scheme to regain fashion edge\"a<\/p>\n

Debenhams collapsing into administration in 2020 resulted in the closure of all its shops<\/p>\n

ALAMY<\/p>\n

Debenhams is resurrecting the designer fashion scheme that brought Julien Macdonald and Henry Holland to the high street in the 1990s, as the retailer attempts to recapture its former influence.<\/p>\n

The online department store, which struggled after it collapsed into administration, is relaunching its \u201cDesigners at Debenhams\u201d initiative next month in an effort to close the gap with rivals Marks & Spencer and John Lewis.<\/p>\n

The initiative was scrapped when the company collapsed into administration in 2020, resulting in the closure of all its shops. The retailer was bought by Boohoo Group for \u00a355 million in 2021.<\/p>\n

The scheme, which launched in 1993, was a retail pioneer, offering affordable designer fashion long before collaborations between high street and luxury labels became commonplace. It gave exposure to rising names such as Jasper Conran and Betty Jackson, cementing Debenhams\u2019 reputation as a style innovator. For some, including Macdonald, the department store\u2019s collapse in 2020 left a significant gap in their business.<\/p>\n

Domino\u2019s head of dough steps down\"Domino's<\/p>\n

Domino\u2019s Pizza Group has announced that its finance director, Edward Jamieson, is leaving immediately by \u201cmutual agreement\u201d.<\/p>\n

His departure comes as the FTSE 250 takeaway chain, which owns the master franchise for its US parent, faces activist pressure from Browning West over its strategy. In August, the group cut its 2025 profit forecast citing high costs and subdued customer demand.<\/p>\n

Jamieson, who joined the company as its finance head in October 2022, will be replaced on an interim basis by Richard Snow, the former finance chief at Ladbrokes, until Andrew Andrea arrives by mid-March.<\/p>\n

Andrea is stepping down from C&C Group after 18 months in the latest board shake-up at the Magners cider maker. <\/p>\n

Roger White, who came out of retirement in January to become C&C\u2019s third boss in less than two years, said: \u201cAndrew joined the business during challenging times and has played a significant role in the stabilisation and improvement of the business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next lifts profits but warns on UK outlook\"Woman<\/p>\n

The Next boss insisted the retailer was \u201cin a good place\u201d<\/p>\n

NEXT<\/p>\n

Lord Wolfson of Aspley Guise, the chief executive of the high street and online retailer Next, has issued a stark warning about \u201cthe medium to long-term outlook\u201d for the UK economy alongside interim results this morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt best we expect anaemic growth, with progress constrained by four factors: declining job opportunities, new regulation that erodes competitiveness, government spending commitments that are beyond its means, and a rising tax burden that undermines national productivity,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

Despite the warning, the long-standing boss of Next insisted that the retailer was \u201cin a good place, with multiple opportunities for growth, both in the UK and overseas\u201d.<\/p>\n

The actual numbers show that pre-tax profits in the six months to the end of July rose 13.8 per cent to \u00a3515 million, up from \u00a3452 million over the same period last year. Sales were up 10.3 per cent on 2024 at \u00a33.25 billion.<\/p>\n

Gold dips after Fed signals caution<\/p>\n

Gold prices extended losses overnight and the dollar firmed after the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates<\/a> by a quarter of a percentage point but dampened hopes for faster policy easing.<\/p>\n

Spot gold dipped 0.1 per cent to $3,655.10 per ounce after hitting a record high of $3,707.40 on Wednesday. Gold futures for December delivery slipped 0.8 per cent to $3,689.80.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe general message from the Fed was slightly to the hawkish side on interest rates, they didn\u2019t really enthusiastically endorse lower rates,\u201d said Edward Meir, a Marex analyst.<\/p>\n

The dollar rose 0.3 per cent to extend gains against global currencies, gaining slightly against both the pound and euro.<\/p>\n

The Fed reduced rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday to 4-4.25 per cent and indicated it will steadily lower borrowing costs for the rest of this year with two more cuts at most. The move comes as the Bank of England rate-setting committee prepares to meet at noon, with traders expecting policymakers to hold the base rate at 4 per cent amid stubbornly high inflation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Deliveroo co-founder and boss Will Shu has confirmed that he is to step down from the takeaway…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":433366,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3090],"tags":[147285,14120,51,1700,9461,2583,49079,53647,1200,16,147284,15,16741],"class_list":{"0":"post-433365","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-anaemic","9":"tag-after","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-economy","12":"tag-live","13":"tag-next","14":"tag-over","15":"tag-raid","16":"tag-tax","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-uks","19":"tag-united-kingdom","20":"tag-warns"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115224753872315915","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=433365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/433366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=433365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=433365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=433365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}