We pick the best and most absurd April Fool’s Day marketing pranks
It’s the first of April, which means it’s time for another round of absurd marketing campaigns and collabs to celebrate what has now become the tradition of brands pranking customers. Whilst most, as you’ll see below, are quite obviously terrible ide...
Champion and Myprotein unveil limited-edition activewear collection
UK sports nutrition brand Myprotein has partnered with Champion to launch a limited-edition training collection. The collaboration “accelerates” Myprotein’s expansion into other categories and builds upon its partnerships with Decathlon, Frasers Grou...
Jigsaw pulls in £3.5m loss as it plans new UK stores
Luxury womenswear retailer Jigsaw pulled in a loss in its latest annual results, as it plots new stores throughout the UK. The group reported an EBITDA loss of £3.5 million from January 2024 to March 2025, on sales of £52.2 million. Following this pe...
Pension funds to back UK VC with £200m fund close
Three UK pension funds have agreed to invest in the UK venture capital (VC) market via a fund coordinated by the British Business Bank. The government has been encouraging pension funds to direct their considerable capital away from traditional cauti...
William Hill to close around 200 shops as tax and cost pressures mount
William Hill is set to close around 200 shops across the UK after parent company Evoke completed what it described as a “thorough review” of the business. The bookmaker said the closures will begin from May, with the group blaming mounting pressure o...
CMA targets cloud and business software in competition push
The UK’s competition regulator has unveiled plans to target anti-competitive behaviour in the cloud market after engaging with its largest players. Since the introduction of the new digital markets competition regime, the Competition and Markets Auth...
Pets at Home says retail turnaround remains on track as full-year profit guidance holds
Pets at Home has said its retail turnaround plan remains on track as it reiterated full-year profit guidance ahead of its annual results. In a pre-close trading update covering the year to March 2026, the retailer said its strategy to improve product...
Nike bats away Converse sale talk as Authentic Brands circles struggling label
Nike is not preparing to offload Converse, at least not publicly. However fresh speculation over the future of the brand has resurfaced after Bloomberg reported that Authentic Brands Group has expressed interest in buying Converse, should it ever be ...
Unilever seals $45bn McCormick food merger as it sharpens focus health and beauty
Unilever has agreed a $44.8bn (£33.5bn) deal to combine its Foods business with US spices and seasonings giant McCormick, creating a global flavour group with annual revenues of around $20bn (£15bn). The transaction will leave Unilever and its shareh...
Chancellor Reeves to meet supermarket bosses after first talks fail to attract turnout
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to meet senior supermarket executives today, after an earlier attempt to convene the sector was abandoned following a poor response from retailers. The rescheduled Downing Street meeting is expected to be attended by b...
Topps Tiles to close 23 stores as it steps up cost-cutting measures
Topps Tiles is to close 23 underperforming stores this year as part of a wider cost-cutting drive aimed at delivering sustainable profit growth. The retailer said it has begun rolling out a series of “self-help measures” across the business to improv...
Poundstretcher rules out store closures as it launches rent-cut restructuring plan
Poundstretcher has said it is not planning any store closures or redundancies as it moves ahead with a major restructuring plan focused on reducing property costs across its estate. The discount retailer, which operates more than 300 stores and emplo...