Retail news round-up on November 9, 2015: Argos’ website goes offline, M&S chief confirms stay and S&P cuts Matalan’s long-term credit rating.

Argos hit by website problems

Argos suffered a website glitch after it went offline for several hours owing to an internal fault.

The catalogue retailer apologised to its customers and issues a statement: “We are extremely sorry for the temporary service issues our customers were experiencing on our website this afternoon.

“We have identified and fixed the issue and our site is now up and running.

“We apologise to any customer who has tried to contact us unsuccessfully today and we are working to respond to all enquiries as soon as we can.”

Marc Bolland confirms he will remain M&S boss

Marks & Spencer chief executive Marc Bolland has confirmed in public that he plans to stay at the helm of the business for the foreseeable future, putting to rest all the rumours that he might be replaced.

Bolland told The Mail on Sunday that he will ask the board to freeze his pay in the next financial year.

This will be the fifth consecutive year he will refuse a pay hike.

Bolland said of his request for a pay freeze: “I’ve done it for four years now and I will ask them to do it again next year.”

Sports Direct eyes a position on Findel board

Sports Direct International has announced that its board would convene a shareholders’ meeting of Findel to appoint one of its representatives to the board.

Mike Ashley, the owner of Sports Direct, wants Benjamin Gardener to be appointed to the board.

The Kitbag owner issued a statement confirming the request.

The sportswear retailer snapped up a 19% stake in Findel at the end of September.

S&P cuts Matalan’s long-term credit rating over piling debt

Standard and Poor’s (S&P) has downgraded Matalan’s risk profile from ‘weak’ to ‘vulnerable’ over concerns about the retailer’s excessive debt pile following a sharp plunge in its profits.

The chain posted 90% drop in its quarterly profits owing to serious operational problems at its warehouse in Knowsley, Liverpool.

“We are revising our assessment of Matalan’s risk profile to ‘vulnerable’ from ‘weak’ and its management and governance practices to ‘weak’ from ‘fair’”, S&P said.

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