Laurence and Stephen discuss Booths' Christmas trading, the acquisition of a raw dog food business and a major mixed-use development in Oxford.
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00:00A new owner for a premium dog food business, the latest phase of a redevelopment of a former
00:05department store in Cardiff, and the Christmas results for booths.
00:10That's all coming up in today's Business Briefing, sponsored by Shawbrook.
00:20My name's Laurence Corganan.
00:21I'm Stephen Powell.
00:22Well, morning, Stephen.
00:24And it's an interesting time for sort of the retail industry, particularly, because we're
00:29getting all their results from the Christmas period and Black Friday and what have you.
00:34And actually, there's a bit of economic gloom at the moment, but that doesn't seem to have
00:38passed through to retailers, often the first people to sort of complain that things are
00:42tough because we had Tesco with some good results last week, M&S at the sort of higher
00:47end.
00:48Today, we had booths.
00:49So perhaps you could tell us a bit about how are they doing?
00:53Yeah.
00:54So, well, similar picture there, too, to those you mentioned, really strong sales over the
00:58Christmas period.
00:59They've put out a trading update for the three weeks to the 4th of January.
01:04Within that, they reported a 9.3% rise in sales.
01:09That was boosted by the Christmas week itself, where sales grew by 6.7% across its stores.
01:17And that also included its biggest ever sales day on the 23rd of December, with people getting
01:22their last minute Christmas shopping.
01:24Right.
01:25OK.
01:26Yes.
01:27So that's a big part of the market, isn't it?
01:28Yeah, yeah.
01:29Where are they located?
01:30So 26 stores they've got across the north of England, yeah, places like the Lake District,
01:37Yorkshire.
01:38Yeah, lots of market locations.
01:42OK.
01:43OK.
01:44And what did well for them?
01:45Presumably, it was your traditional Christmas fair, was it?
01:48It was, yeah.
01:49So they've highlighted Christmas cheese sales being particularly strong, pigs in blankets
01:53as well.
01:54Right.
01:55Our favourite at Christmas.
01:56And single malt whiskeys did well for them this year.
01:58OK.
01:59Interesting.
02:00Well, getting the latest retailer to be doing well.
02:01So that was good.
02:02Because we also had the Very Group reporting a strong Christmas.
02:06They said that games, consoles, perfume, and air fryers were driving their success.
02:11So while sticking with the sort of premium side of things, we've got news that the Dog's
02:18Butcher, they're a raw dog food business.
02:24They've been acquired by a European business, the Nutriment Company.
02:27They're sort of based in Germany and Sweden.
02:31And the Dog's Butcher, well, they sort of make their dog food using the ingredients
02:37specially sourced in Devon, Cornwall, and the wider southwest.
02:41It's an interesting area.
02:43We've covered other stories about sort of premium pet products.
02:47And clearly, despite there being a bit of a squeeze on living standards, people still
02:51find they go the extra mile for their pets.
02:53Yeah, people want them through welfare, don't they, in their best shape?
02:57No, absolutely.
02:58And the acquisition is going to mean that the Dog's Butcher is able to sort of expand
03:02across the UK and get its products to more pet lovers.
03:05So we shall wait and see.
03:07Now, you've got some news about a development in Oxford, I understand.
03:10Yeah, that's right.
03:11So there's a really big, mixed-use development on the agenda for the planning committee meeting
03:14next week being brought forward by OxWED, which is a joint venture between Oxford City
03:19Council and Nuffield College.
03:21So the plans are for a site on Oxpens Road, which is currently wasteland.
03:27The plans there include 234 houses and a new student accommodation block, which would provide
03:33space for more than 250 students.
03:36Alongside that, there are plans for a hotel and new commercial space.
03:40So it's been estimated that altogether, thousands of jobs could be created by that particular
03:45development.
03:46So a really big scheme for the area.
03:49Excellent.
03:50It's on the agenda for the meeting on the 21st of January and is recommended for approval.
03:55So all being well, should see some progress there fairly soon.
03:58Well, I suppose they need plenty of space for students in Oxford.
04:01Yes.
04:02A lovely city as well, briefly, in the mists of time.
04:06Well, sticking with development, we've got news of the latest phase of the redevelopment
04:11of the Howells Building in Cardiff.
04:14That's a former department store, which is getting repurposed into, you know, this phase
04:19includes a hotel and residential accommodation.
04:22We're seeing that more and more, aren't we?
04:24The old, historic, huge department stores, which perhaps the market's been really condensed,
04:29getting repurposed.
04:31In Manchester itself, the Debenhams Building is undergoing something similar at the moment.
04:36So those plans have been submitted and they form part of a £100 million investment.
04:41So crucial to get one because the buildings are always really beautiful.
04:45So it's a Grade II listed building, the Howells Building.
04:48So I'm sure that'll be a great benefit and asset to the Cardiff sort of offer.
04:53Well, to find out more about the stories we've been discussing, go to insidermedia.com.
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05:06That's everything from us.
05:07See you next time.
05:11Insider Media