Ideal Shopping Direct for sale?
Ideal Shopping Direct, which operates the Ideal World and Create and Craft TV-shopping channels, has confirmed it has begun a strategic review of the business that may lead to a sale of the company.

Begy joins the Cotswold Company
Nick Begy, formerly marketing director at crafts and novelties merchant Baker Ross, has joined the newly relaunched Cotswold Company as marketing director.

Freemans Grattan looks to reduce customer debt with analytics software
Home shopping group Freemans Grattan Holdings is predicting a reduction of up to 33 percent in customer debt after implementing customer lifecycle analytics software. The company, which has been using the Kxen software in its marketing department for three years, is now using it within the credit risk team.

Sales continue to rise at Asos
Online fashion etailer Asos reported strong UK and international sales in its first quarter to 30th June. UK sales rose 32 percent while international sales more than doubled during the period--up 111 percent on the first quarter last year. International sales now account for 37 percent of total retail sales.

Thorntons makes staff cuts
As a cost-cutting measure, confectioner Thorntons has announced “a staff restructuring programme” that will make 35 head office employees redundant over the next three months. In its latest trading statement, Thorntons reported that sales at its direct division grew by 17.1 percent to £900,000 million in the fourth quarter to 26th June. However, overall sales declined by 4.1 percent.

Avon to buy Silpada
Avon, the direct seller of cosmetics and beauty products, has agreed to buy the assets of jewellery business Silpada for an initial payment of approximately $650 million (£426.1 million). Silpada is a direct seller of sterling silver jewellery and trades through 32,000 independent representatives in the US, Canada and the UK as well as online. Avon has said that Silpada will continue to operate as a standalone business.

Bertelsmann divests Australian bookclub
DirectGroup Bertelsmann has sold Doubleday Australia, its book and music club business in Australia and New Zealand, to A&WN Trust. Managing director Andrew Nikas will continue to lead the company together with the local management team. Bertelsmann exited its Italian bookclub business in February this year, and wound down its UK and Dutch bookclubs in 2009.

New recruits at Isabella Oliver
Maternitywear cataloguer Isabella Oliver has appointed former All Saints and Reiss staffer Zoe Hannam as production manager and Joanna Keigwin, previously of Marie Claire and Living Etc as art director. The business recently announced that sales in the year to 30th April were £8 million. Isabella Oliver hopes to achieve a 45 percent growth for 2011, driven by international expansion—predominantly from the USA—and the growth of its nonmaternity line, 365, in the UK.

Deciphering the data compliance code
Collecting and processing data is a bit like driving a car. The more experienced and informed you are, the less likely you are to fall foul of the governing code of conduct. With driving, the code of conduct is of course the Highway Code. With data collection and data processing, the code is the Data Protection Act of 1998. Whilst most of us are very familiar with the Highway Code, how familiar are we with the Data Protection Act of 1998 and how it impacts on our business? Click here for some pointers.