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Wiggle snapped up by Bridgepoint
Portsmouth-based cycling and trisports retailer Wiggle has been acquired by private equity firm Bridgepoint for £180 million. Wiggle was previously owned by Isis Private Equity, which invested £12 million in the business in 2006. In 2009-10, Wiggle had sales of approximately £55 million and continues to grow in 2011: its website is translated into nine languages, accepts sales in 15 different currencies and is accessible to 88 countries. 

La Senza appoints restructuring specialists 
According to published reports, lingerie retailer La Senza has called in KPMG to restructure the business. KPMG will advise La Senza on its options, including administration or a company voluntary agreement (CVA), which could see it close some of its 158 UK stores. 

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Have your say in shaping the ECMOD Awards
Help us make the ECMOD Direct Commerce Awards the best yet. Taking place on 27th March at the Lancaster London Hotel, the Awards will be open for entries from January 2012. Before we finalise the categories we wanted to ask for your opinion. Please take a couple of minutes to answer just a few questions about what you’d like to see from the ECMOD Awards next year. We really appreciate your feedback. Click here to visit the survey.

Mothercare to go private?
Rumours are circulating that private equity firm Cinven, which operates Pizza Express, is considering a £150 million takeover of struggling nursery and maternity products retailer Mothercare.

Barratts Priceless in administration
The tough trading on the high street has claimed its latest victim. Shoe retailer Barratts Priceless Group, which has 191 stores across the UK trading as Barratts and Priceless Shoes and 371 concessions, called in administrators from Deloitte. The appointment puts some 3,840 jobs at risk.

Zulily gears up for UK launch, appoints managing director
Kristine Kirby has joined Seattle-based flash-sales website Zulily as UK managing director as the business readies for a UK launch next year. Since its launch in January 2010, Zulily has grown to more than 300 employees to support its expanding member base of some four million customers.

Anne Walker wins Hera Award
Congratulations to Devon-based businesswoman Anne Walker MBE, who was named winner of the everywoman Hera Award, a prize honouring British entrepreneurial success. Walker is chief executive of International Dance Supplies, a b-to-b marketer of dancewear and accessories.

Wickes opens high street store
In a move that breaks with DIY tradition, Wickes has opened its first high street store, in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.




Save the date
Next year’s ECMOD will take place at Business Design Centre, London on 27th to 28th November. A multitrack conference programme will run alongside the exhibition, and interested parties are invited to put themselves forward as speakers. Email Rhi Leeds (rhi@ecmod.com) with your topic suggestions. For more details, visit www.ecmod360.co.uk. 

Sales up at Superdry
Superdry owner Supergroup announced that in the 26 weeks to 30th October, sales grew 51 percent to £136.1 million and reported pretax profit was £20.3 million, up 39 percent. The company says it has resolved its distribution problems and restored replenishment in its UK retail business, though it has cost the business almost £9 million in lost profits.
 
Argos opens pop-up shops in London train stations
Argos has opened pop-up stores in Waterloo and Paddington train stations. The outlets enable customers to scan QR codes using their smartphones to reserve an item for collection at a later date.
 
Avon separates top roles
Cosmetics marketer Avon is separating the roles of chairman and chief executive, effective 2012. Andrea Jung will become executive chairman and the company will begin an external search for a chief executive.
 
Timscris collapses
Creditors of Timscris, which worked with newspapers to create reader-offer catalogues as well as operated a fulfilment division called Templar Marketing Services, are meeting with the company’s directors and administrators from KSA Group this week. Timscris’s own-brand title LifeStylesatHome has also entered voluntary liquidation.
 
High street review published
Mary Portas has published her review into the future of the British high street. The purpose of the Portas review is to identify what the government, local authorities, businesses and the general public can do to promote economic growth and create new business models that are more relevant to the consumer. Among the ideas are a "virtual high street", with online information on all things local and making more of the local "Post Office" so that it becomes a hub for collecting deliveries for puchases made online, rather than using out-of-town malls or petrol stations.
 




2011: A year in review
We kicked off 2011 covered in a blanket of snow and ice, we saw Argos launch a TV channel and Royal Mail deregulation move a step closer. We noticed more and more direct sellers heading overseas and picked up on a trend that private equity investments were hotting up in our sector. We noted the demise of Habitat and saw big names swallowed up by even bigger names: Play.com and Rakuten, Kiddicare and Morrisons, Lovefilm and Amazon… With so much to cover, we’ve saved you the trouble of trawling through our archives to bring you 2011: a year in review. So sit back and enjoy our roundup of the biggest stories of this year. Read more here...
 
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