City news: Next, Saatchi and Saatchi, Northern Ireland shops
THE executive chairman of advertising agency Saatchi and Saatchi has been told to go on leave after suggesting women do not have “vertical ambition”.
Kevin Roberts said in an interview with Business Insider he did not believe the lack of women in senior roles “is a problem”, he did not spend “any time” on the issue and the debate was “over”.
Maurice Levy, CEO of Saatchi and Saatchi’s parent company Publicis Groupe, wrote to staff stressing its position on inclusion.
Related articles
A statement said: “Promoting gender equality starts at the top and the Groupe will not tolerate anyone speaking for our organisation who does not value the importance of inclusion.”
In the interview, Mr Roberts said: “Their ambition is not a vertical ambition, it’s this intrinsic, circular ambition to be happy.”
-----------------------------------------
Brexit ‘boosts N Ireland shops’
The Brexit vote has boosted business in Northern Ireland from shoppers across the UK’s only EU land border, a leading retailer has said.
The number from the Republic of Ireland visiting Newry in Co Down is up 50 per cent since the June referendum as the pound slid in value against the euro, Buttercrane shopping centre manager Peter Murray said.
Other cities on the UK’s western fringe benefited from the currency fluctuation as bargain hunters from the Republic headed north.
Mr Murray said: “Their euro is going further because of the soft exchange rate against the pound.”
Mr Murray said that the proportion of Irish car registrations using the Buttercrane complex had increased from about 11 per cent or 12 per cent prereferendum to about 18 per cent since.
-----------------------------------------
Next braced for further slide in sales
Retailer Next is expected to report another plunge in sales next week as difficult trading and increased costs begin to take their toll on the firm.
City analysts expect sales at high street shops open at least a year to plummet 8.3 per cent in the second quarter.
Paul Rossington, analyst at HSBC, said: “UK footfall has been impacted by the biggest decline in June since 2013, with retail parks going into rare negative territory.”
HSBC has slashed its full year profit forecast for Next by 2 per cent.
Mr Rossington also said that Next could look to mitigate rising costs by “further price increases, better sourcing and cost savings”.
Earlier in the year, Next warned that lacklustre figures in the first quarter could indicate a wider consumer spending slowdown.
In March, chief executive Lord Wolfson said the market was the “toughest we have faced since 2008” and the retailer issued a gloomy update in May.
Despite uncertainty since the Brexit decision, chief executive Lord Wolfson – a prominent Leave campaigner – said last month that he did not intend to change Next’s investment plans as a result.
