Iceland won the Outstanding Achievement Award at the Retail Industry Awards last week, tallying to a record-breaking collection of accolades. This award is for real customer satisfaction and is measured by the IGD’s ShopperVista monthly shopping tracker.
Barter is a practice that has evolved since its ancestral days, and as managing director of trading platform Bartercard UK, Mark Williams explains, “gone are the days when you swapped a sheep for a goat”.
There is only so much vegans can get from eating French fries in McDonalds, especially since they took mozzarella sticks off their menu. McDonalds has decided to give them some satisfaction by creating a vegan burger.
As the recession deterred investors from the money markets, Mail Boxes Etc in Edinburgh turned its attention to art, antiques and upscale whiskies. Today, its specialised business in shipping art, collectables and antiques all over the world has hit its 10,000th shipment mark.
With their new shop in Leeds, Mr Awkright’s Tool Emporium take some customers-old-enough-to-remember and nostalgia lovers alike, down memory lane with its vintage design.
The Seattle native coffeehouse chain kicks start autumn with their iconic milky beverage that gives you a daily dose of sugar and spice and everything nice.
River Island’s childrenswear and mobile shopping has boosted profits up to 70% and numbers are on the rise. The family-owned high street retailer launched River Island Mini last year and it has since claimed a chunk of the £4.6B UK childrenswear market.
Mobalpa, the French leading kitchen manufacturer opens its first showroom in Yorkshire. The state-of-the-art showroom give customers a glimpse into the kitchens of their dreams with products, design open plan areas and storage solutions beautifully displayed in real settings.
In keeping up with the ever-changing ice cream market, Haagen Dazs has upped its game to the next level. The favourite household ice cream brand has announced it will create five new cocktail themed flavours with just enough alcohol to booze it up to the perfect taste.
After touring New York City and Venice Beach, California, Tommy Hilfinger closes London Fashion Week with his “Tommynow” show filled with rock inspired and 90’s themed grunge styles, featuring his star ambassador Gigi Hadid and coed styles for the first time since 2010.
Marks & Spencer drives down the sustainability road in full throttle with the redesign of food packaging to cut down plastic usage and transport costs.
For those who have never heard of KFC’s latest addition to its ‘finger lickin good’ fried chicken family, the Double Down burger is known for its decadence.
The Pan-Asian casual dining chain restaurant, Wagamama has seen a 19% upsurge in its 2016 annual results boasting a reported turnover of £228.1m compared to £191.7m in 2015.
PANDORA, the leading international jewellery manufacturer and retailer expands strategic corporate alliance with Disney to cover additional markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
In an exclusive interview for Advertiser, Five Guys, the deliciously famous American burger joint, announced they will be soon opening a new restaurant in Croydon. Last January it was reported Five Guys were planning to convert the former Yate’s pub in the High Street into a 209-seater restaurant.
On the 25th September 2017 Costa Coffee in Dubai completed a successful drone delivery trial in response to a growing demand. Costa Coffee took on a unique trial service in Dubai after 82% of its UAE customers expressed they would very much enjoy a drone drop delivery of Costa Coffee products.
Subway brand announces a refurbishment programme that will bring the chain’s 2,500-strong store estate up to par with the consumer’s growing expectations.
The popular pet care franchise, PetStay, has recently announced that they have won the 5 Star Franchise Satisfaction Award - one of a handful in 2017. The organisers, Smith + Henderson, says the award “helps excellent franchisors stand out from the competition”.
Popular UK business consultancy franchise, Business Doctors, has announced that they have a third franchisee in the Kent region. Sean Smith, a former city trader has got exclusive rights to Tonbridge and Sevenoaks.
The South Devon unit of popular senior care franchise, Home Instead, has proudly announced that it’s the 18th franchise to receive an ‘Outstanding rating’ - the highest possible from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
The international gym and fitness group, Anytime Fitness, has said that it’s committed to an aggressive expansion strategy that will see over 400 clubs opening within the next 3 years. The UK franchisor currently has over 120 clubs and have planned to have 150 by the end of the year.
Sign franchise giant, Signarama UK, has announced that it’s launching a new franchising model which will allow existing business to bolt on their franchise services. The franchise bolt on will be offered to small to medium sized businesses in the print sector.
The Pizza giant, Pizza Hut UK, has announced a 3% sales increase on the previous year. The group, however, saw pre-tax profits fall 40% which was blamed in part to increased franchising and staffing costs.
Popular chicken franchise restaurant, KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) has opened its first outlet at a UK airport. The new outlet will serve customers breakfast from 4am to 10am from the departures lounge in Terminal 3.
Gym and fitness franchise énergie has announced that it is launching a new training concept that the group believes will help bolster its rebranding efforts. The new signature training regime, named ‘thé Yard’ is aimed at increasing an already diverse offering to its members.
The retailer Marks and Spencer (M&S) has said it has started discussions with its franchise partner, Dubai-based Al-Futtaim, over the potential sale of its outlets in Hong Kong and Macau.
Domino’s Pizza group, also known as DPG, has announced that it has signed a deal worth £24 million to partner up with it’s largest London Franchise business.
Kitchen Franchise Dream Doors has announced record breaking success with the franchise brand opening 2 new showroom outlets in a single day. The new two outlets are based in Exeter and South Glasgow and are ran by two passionate kitchen designers, Mike Maughan-Brown and Ian McLachan.
Driver Hire franchisee, Jayne O’Flynn, who is director at Driver Hire Grimsby & Scunthorpe has won the ‘Business Woman of the Year” award from the Work Wise Women (WWW) networking group. The group aims to improve opportunities and help expand knowledge for women in the Grimsby area.
A Fastsign franchise in Bolton has seen rapid success after owner David Hiney took control in July 2016. The outlet has its eyes firmly set on its plans for expansion in its second year.
Point Franchise
