Happy New Year from the staff at UK Whitegoods, let’s hope that 2009 is a good year for us all. As ever at this time of the year I would like to thank all the people that help us make this site possible, the moderators especially, by helping people for free in the forums. As usual, through 2008, …
Category: Appliance
General non-specific news from the appliance industry including new products, spares, business news and more.
Panic Grips The High Street, But What About Everything Else?
Unless you happen to have been living in a cave for the past few months you will be well aware of the current trading conditions, it’s grim, very grim. Analysts and pundits are, basically, predicting the end of the world as we know it with major retailers going bust all over the place and some su…
KBB Businesses Go Into Meltdown
As we have been saying on UK Whitegoods for some weeks, if not months, it would appear that with the slowdown (or dead stop) in the housing market that many kitchen, bedroom and bathroom (KBB) businesses that companies that major in that arena are dropping like the proverbial flies. News keeps re…
Midea to Wholly Control Royalstar
Midea Electric Appliances Co., Ltd. the home appliance maker based in China, announced lately that it planed to buy a 25% stake in the Hefei-based washing machine maker Hefei Royalstar Washing Machine Co., Ltd. (Royalstar). It is an effort to boost Midea’s white goods business. In detail, the com…
Morgan Stanley Says DSG & Comet Likely to Suffer
According to city analysts Morgan Stanley this morning, Marks & Spencer Group Plc, Kesa Electricals Plc and DSG International Plc are the U.K. retailers “most likely to disappoint” this Christmas as earnings come under pressure from lower sales and increased discounting.
BDC In Administration Among Many Others
Administrators for electrical distributor Bridisco Group have written to retailers telling them to pay ‘in full’ for new goods regardless of anything they might be owed. Ernst and Young the administrators for the group, also known as the British Distribution Company (BDC), wrote to suppliers on 2…
Listeria warning over chilled foods
A doubling in the cases of the potentially fatal bug listeria has prompted a warning about chilled, ready to eat food. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said the latest figures show 400 cases a year, double the number seen in 2001 and a rise of a fifth in the past 12 months.
Waterline Goes Private Again
Distribution heavyweight Waterline is set to take itself off the AIM stock exchange following a year of bad results as the market downturn begins to bite. Shareholders agreed to cancel the admission to AIM at a meeting held on November 10 and it is expected delisting will take on or around Decemb…
Currys, Comet & Others Hit With Credit Insurance Woes
Both Currys (Dixons Stores Group) and Comet (Kesa Electricals) have been hit with bad news about their credit insurance in the past few days but these are only the headline grabbing names that are affected by this trend. Much debt to companies, especially for large amounts, are insured against ri…
Fridge Conman Jailed & Forced To Pay Back Cash
A man branded as Northhamptonshire’s worst ever conman after ripping off hundreds of people has been forced to hand over £66,000 to the authorities. Kenneth Hornsby was sentenced to three years in prison in 2003 after an investigation revealed refrigeration repairs he had carried out in Nor…