chrisp65 Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Coffee #1 in Chepstow. Costa have just moved in right across the road, so i fear it could be curtains for my favourite coffee shop. Coffee#1 is a Brains franchise yeah? A rare smart move from the local brewer. I'm torn on Costa, I genuinely like their coffee, but I'm just a bit worried they're killing everything else off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted November 1, 2012 Moderator Share Posted November 1, 2012 Costa's coffee is bland beyond belief Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 if you're up and down the motorway and the pit stop choice is 'upper crust', 'macdonalds', 'starbucks' or 'costa' then there really is no competition Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted November 1, 2012 Author VT Supporter Share Posted November 1, 2012 if you're up and down the motorway and the pit stop choice is 'upper crust', 'macdonalds', 'starbucks' or 'costa' then there really is no competition I agree. Starbucks. Anyway... did anybody have JJB Sports? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted December 12, 2012 Author VT Supporter Share Posted December 12, 2012 HMV being supported with £40m from suppliers Music publishers and film studios are desperate to see the beleaguered high street chain prosper as internet retailers erode their margins and online piracy damages sales. HMV, whose market value now stands at just £14m, is on Thursday due to publish its interim results and update on Christmas trading. In September the company warned that sales were down almost 12pc but said that this should improve in the run-up to Christmas with the launch of products such as the Nintendo Wii console, a new One Direction album, and the Dark Knight Rises DVD. According to industry sources, HMV is being helped in the run-up to Christmas by an estimated £40m of financial support from suppliers. The backing follows HMV’s deal earlier this year to “change the nature” of its relationship with key suppliers such as Universal and Disney. It is understood that HMV has secured greater access to music and film suppliers’ back catalogues and is buying stock on consignment, meaning the retailer pays only for products if it sells them. Suppliers have also taken a 2.5pc stake in HMV after activating warrants that were issued over the shares. The retailer’s last financial results in August show it had already booked £15m to its income statement following the deal with suppliers. Since then, Trevor Moore, the former boss of photography chain Jessops who took over at HMV in September, has stepped up his efforts to win the backing of suppliers. HMV, which was founded on Oxford Street in London in 1921, declined to corroborate the level of support from suppliers. The company said: “We would never disclose the nature of supplier relationships.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Another blow for Tamworth as another of its fairly big employers bit the dust yesterday :-( Link Job losses as Drive Assist UK goes into administration Drive Assist employs 640 people at 14 offices in Staffordshire and Nottingham A Staffordshire-based firm which provides cars to people who have had accidents has made 259 people redundant after going into administration. Drive Assist UK Ltd, which has its headquarters in Tamworth, employs 640 people at 14 offices. Administrators said that included two other firms it owns, Sol Car Rentals in Tamworth, and Millennium Motor Group in Nottingham. A total of 229 of the jobs were lost at its Tamworth sites. A spokeswoman said 179 jobs had been lost from the Fazeley site, while 50 were going from the Ventura site. The remaining 30 were going from its other locations across the country. 'Most appropriate steps' Alastair Beveridge, from Zolfo Cooper, said administration was "the only option available" because the firm had lost a major customer which "had resulted in increasing cash flow pressures." He said: "We will be working alongside all stakeholders to determine the most appropriate next steps for the benefit of all creditors." Drive Assist UK supplies cars on short-term hire to people after accidents, and Sol Car provides short-term car rental for private and corporate clients. The Millennium Motor Group at Nottingham Auto Park, in Mapperley sells ex-fleet vehicles, administrators said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Another blow for Tamworth as another of its fairly big employers bit the dust yesterday :-( Link How very odd that the MP for Tamworth, Pincher, chose today to use PMQs to congratulate Cameron on the fall in youth unemployment, and ask him to meet to discuss how to "promote employment still further" in Tamworth. Perhaps he's happy with the continued destruction of jobs and their replacement with part-time, lower-paid, often zero-hours jobs instead. After all, if the figures show an increase in the number of countable jobs, what matter that everyone is worse off? All part of making the labour force more "flexible". 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted December 12, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted December 12, 2012 Possibly behind on this one, but THQ are a good bet for dead soon. They will need to be very lucky to see another Christmas, and even then it will be a fundamentally different (not least smaller) company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Best canned coffee in the ENTIRE WORLD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ingram85 Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Are they going bust then Maqroll? Or was this one for the things that cheer you up thread? Sounds fecking lovely though, can you get it in the uk? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Are they going bust then Maqroll? Or was this one for the things that cheer you up thread? Sounds fecking lovely though, can you get it in the uk? Nah, I was just responding to the coffee posts a little way back up this thread...that said, their main warehouse took considerable damage in Hurricane Katrina. You'd probably have to search far and wide in the UK to find Luzianne. It's hard to find outside the southern US...but well worth the effort Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted January 15, 2013 Author VT Supporter Share Posted January 15, 2013 And THERE goes HMV... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eames Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 And THERE goes HMV... Thing is - there must be a way to make HMV work as a business - even with a smaller retail presence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimzk5 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Not a surprise hmv are gone when you can buy a new cd off play for £8 and they charge £12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted January 15, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted January 15, 2013 Not a surprise hmv are gone when you can buy a new cd off play for £8 and they charge £12 Play have already gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimzk5 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Play have already gone. What site have I been using then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Thread is out of date. Title update required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ender4 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 What site have I been using then? Play's retail business has closed down, its just their marketplace which is continuing to operate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seat68 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 (edited) What site have I been using then? Play are ditching their retail setup and going with the part of their business thats similar to amazon marketplace. ender4 beat me to it. Edited January 15, 2013 by Seat68 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Thing is - there must be a way to make HMV work as a business - even with a smaller retail presence There is (or was). Unfortunately the cretins in charge didn't act years ago - except to give themselves 50% payrises, let lots of staff go, set up massive impractical loans (and leave before the account had to be settled - whilst having the gall to tell everyone he'd done a good job. Simon Fox, now head of Mirror Group, you are a prick) and come up with a variety of shit, shit ideas. Not opening the website to private sellers. Not nurturing the catalogue (simply merging the suppliers and stores database was an obvious but overlooked step). Insane pricing (£26 pounds for a single CD soundtrack - £4 for the nice new George Harrison book). Still no listening facilities - I mean FFS really? If they'd spent as much time looking at what customers wanted, rather than what they wanted to give to customers (fashion, warranties, points cards and that shit they always offer on the till), they wouldn't be in this crap. This country needs a suit cull. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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