Babcock to shut Appledore dockyard ‘within weeks’. Directors of Babcock International Group (BAB) will discuss the closure of the Appledore shipyard at a board meeting next month, with about 200 jobs at risk. The FTSE 250 engineer is expected to close the shipyard amid a shortage of work, which has led to many of its staff being taken by bus to the company’s far busier and larger Devonport dockyard. A spokesman said: “Babcock is in the final stages of successfully delivering the fourth offshore patrol vessel for the Irish naval service. As that programme comes to an end, we are reviewing the options for our business at Appledore.” The GMB and Unite unions have described the idea as “sickening”.
Jeremy Darroch to show his staying power at Comcast’s results. Jeremy Darroch is expected to appear alongside the boss of Comcast at its quarterly results this week in the clearest sign yet that the chief executive of Sky (SKY) will stay at the broadcaster after the £30.6 billion takeover by the US cable television group completes. Mr Darroch, 56, is expected to take questions from analysts on the results call, with some on Wall Street concerned that Comcast has paid too much for Europe’s largest pay-television provider. There has been uncertainty over the future of Mr Darroch, who joined Sky as chief financial officer in 2004 and was promoted to chief executive three years later. It is not clear whether he has agreed a new long-term contract with Sky’s new American owner.
Superdry on wrong path, warns ex-boss Julian Dunkerton. The co-founder of Superdry (SDRY) and the inspiration behind its success as a fashion brand has publicly criticised the company after suffering a £43 million hit to his fortune last week. Julian Dunkerton, 53, has said that the retailer is on a “completely wrong path” after “probably the most disastrous eight months you could imagine”. The entrepreneur, who launched the business as market stall in Cheltenham in the mid-1980s before floating the company on the stock market in 2010, said that he could return to Superdry to help stem its decline.
No room for extravagance at low-cost Premier Inn. Whitbread (WTB) will unveil a new “no-frills” version of its Premier Inn brand today as it seeks to boost its hotel business after it sells Costa Coffee. The company will launch its first Zip by Premier Inn in Cardiff in February, with rooms from £19 a night, and aims to open three or four before deciding whether to introduce them more widely. Simon Jones, the Premier Inn managing director, said that consumer research and a trial of six Zip rooms at its hotel in South Mimms, Hertfordshire, had established that guests were willing to forgo large rooms, central locations and “bells and whistles” if it saved them money. The average price of a standard Premier Inn room is £57.
Debenhams’ cutbacks put dividend at risk. Debenhams (DEB) is expected to accelerate its cost-cutting drive and axe its dividend as the board tries to turn around the department store chain. The City is forecasting that Debenhams will scrap its full-year dividend to save about £30 million and target a further £70 million of savings, including a cut in capital expenditure. Rachel Osborne, Debenhams’ new chief financial officer, who joined from Domino’s Pizza last month, has been taking a fresh look at the balance sheet and is set to update investors on the plans alongside the retailer’s full-year results on Thursday.
