Retail news round-up on July 1, 2014: Burberry appoints digital vice president, Sports Direct quashes rumours it is to buy Office and more.

Burberry appoints senior vice president of digital commerce

Fashion retailer Burberry has hired BBC Worldwide’s chief digital officer Daniel Heaf as senior vice president of digital commerce, The Drum reported. Heaf started his new role at the company yesterday (June 30). During his time at BBC Worldwide, Heaf led projects which helped drive the broadcaster’s digital revenues increase from around 3% to over 13%.

Sports Direct rejects speculation it is buying shoe retailer Office

Sports Direct International has quashed rumours of a potential buyout offer for shoe retailer Office. The sports retailer said in a statement: “Notwithstanding recent speculation, Sports Direct confirms that it is not considering an offer to acquire Office.”

Sport Direct said the speculation was “unhelpful to the customers, staff, suppliers and other stakeholders of both companies”, adding that it remained focused on building its Premium Lifestyle business, which includes fashion retailers USC and Republic.

Expectations for inflation stable at 2.1%

According to YouGov monthly poll, UK public inflation expectations for the next 12 months remained unchanged at 2.1% in June. Expectations for inflation over the next five to 10 years slightly fell to 3% last month from 3.1% in May.

Operator Numericable buys Carphone Warehouse’s Virgin Mobile France

Mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse has sealed an exclusivity agreement to offload Virgin Mobile France to operator Numericable, in a deal worth £265m, the Telegraph reported. Numericable, owned by billionaire Patrick Drahi’s investment vehicle Altice, said the Virgin Mobile deal was inked after negotiations with employee representatives. The transaction still awaits clearance from France’s competition watchdog.

Net-A-Porter set to launch Net-A-Sporter

Online luxury fashion retailer Net-A-Porter is poised to unveil an activewear category dubbed ‘Net-A-Sporter’ on July 9, which will feature brands including Monreal London, L’Etoile Sport and Falke Sport, The Drum reported. The Net-A-Sporter arm will span across 37 brands in 11 sporting disciplines, with further lines such as ski and equestrian to be added throughout the year. Net-A-Sporter prices start from £25.

 

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