Weekly Business Article

Imagine running a major electrical retailer just weeks before Christmas. Customers are looking to buy televisions, laptops and washing machines, but your suppliers are increasingly reluctant to let you buy goods on credit. How do you fill your shelves if you haven't got enough cash? That was part of the crisis facing Comet in 2012. Founded in Hull in 1933, Comet became one of Britain's best-known electrical retailers, eventually operating 236 stores. But by 2012, the business

Can you sell millions of records, enjoy international fame and still end up bankrupt? Just ask Shane Filan from Westlife. In 2012, the singer was declared bankrupt after his property development business collapsed, leaving him facing debts reportedly reaching €18 million. But how could someone so successful lose so much? When a business gamble goes wrong Alongside his brother, Filan had invested heavily in Irish property through their company, Shafin Developments. During the

For many Business students, stakeholders are introduced as a list. Customers. Employees. Shareholders. Suppliers. Government. Local communities. But stakeholder influence becomes much more interesting when different groups want different things from the same business decision. A trip to the supermarket provides a surprisingly good example. Over recent years, self-service checkouts have become increasingly common across UK supermarkets. For retailers, the attraction is fairly

For many students, the term sole trader first appears as a definition in a textbook: one person owns and controls a business. But what does that actually look like when somebody has to turn an idea into a functioning business? A recent BBC News story provides a useful example. At just 21, Mia Wallace is running Dolly’s Coffee in Lowestoft, Suffolk. She took over the lease of an existing café premises when she was 20, refurbished and rebranded it, and established herself as a