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- Today's business and finance round up 29th June 2021
Today's business and finance round up 29th June 2021
đź‘‹Burberry boss calls it a day
29th June 2021
Good morning We start with the latest on Covid-19:
The good - The Prime Minister and the new Heath Secretary have confirmed that we’re still on track for lockdown restrictions fully lifting on 19 July in England.
The bad - But we may be confined to our own borders as a host of countries are tightening rules on UK visitors due to the spread of the Delta variant.
And the ugly - The latest stats indicate c.116k reported infections over the past 7 days in the UK, a 70% weekly increase.
Today's stories
Burberry boss calls it a day
Plant based food start up secures record investment
Yesterday's market moves
FTSE 100 -0.9% 7,073 FTSE 250 -0.5% 22,533
Growing concerns of the spread of the Delta Covid-19 variant weighed on the stock market with travel and leisure names being the worst hit.Later this week, attention will be on the closely watched US jobs data. After the last two monthly reports came in well below expectations, the pace of hiring in June is forecast to have accelerated following rising vaccinations and re-openings across the country.
LUXURYBurberry boss calls it a day
What’s going on?Marco Gobbetti, the CEO of British luxury retailer Burberry, surprised the market yesterday when he announced he would be leaving the company at the end of the year.News of his upcoming departure sent shares in the FTSE 100 company down 9%. Why is this important?
Investors really liked Gobbetti, he’s a fashion industry veteran previously working at the likes of Givenchy, Celine and Moschino. He joined Burberry in 2017, replacing Christopher Bailey who served as CEO and Creative Director. Bailey was a great fashion designer but wasn’t so experienced in leading in global business. Performance at Burberry suffered during his tenure and Gobbetti was brought in turn things around. Burberry has transformed its image over the past decades from the “chav” association in the early 2000s to a genuine high fashion global brand. Gobbetti was credited with the most recent well-received changes when he brought in Riccardo Tisci from Givenchy. Together the pair elevated Burberry’s fashion look, bringing in a new monogram and an edgier streetwear aesthetic alongside its traditional trench coats. The impact was clear from the profit margins, they rose from 15% when he arrived to nearly 17% today.Gobbetti said he’s leaving as he simply wanted to go back home to Italy to be closer to family. He’s already announced that he’ll be taking up the same role at Italian leather goods maker Salvatore Ferragamo.
TakeawayThe next few months will be crucial for Burberry, the market will be watching closely to see who replaces Gobbetti. The last thing investors will want is someone who will undo the positive changes made at the UK’s only major global fashion brand.
FOODPlant based food start up secures record investment
London based plant meat producer THIS announced that it’s secured an £11m series A funding round - the largest ever fundraise at this stage for a British alternative meat company.The company bills itself as the plant based food brand for meat lovers. It makes “hyper-realistic” versions of chicken and bacon that consist of pea and soy proteins.The cash will go towards expanding research and development to help bring new products to market.Since launching in 2019 THIS has experienced rapid growth:
Sales increased by 530% to ÂŁ13m in the year to April.
It’s stocked in over 8,900 retail distribution points including all four major supermarkets.
The products are in over 300 restaurants throughout the UK including Prezzo, Pho and Honest Burgers.
It was listed by Kantar in the top 10 most valuable consumer product launches of 2020.
The news marks a big move in the British alternative meat market. American companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods dominate the global market, valued at $4.2bn and at $0.8bn in the UK - growing at 17% annually.As more of us switch to a plant based diet for dietary or environmental reasons, you can expect funding in the sector to continue.
Stat of the day
One in 10 tracks streamed globally hail from the UK, with 300 British artists receiving 100 million streams or more
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