NEW SHOW ‘The Real Deal’ at Omnibus Theatre
Off West End Awards’ Most Promising New Playwright of 2018, Katie Bonna, performs a brand new piece of comic story-telling written especially for the Perception Festival.
Anna works for Kapow – or The Alexander McQueen Of Kids’ Birthday Party Companies, as her boss insists she call it. She spends her days pandering to the needs of wealthy parents, punctuated by the occasional violent fantasy about her housemates, strangers on the tube and anyone else who looks vaguely content. Anna is not living her best life.
After her recent, life-exploding heartbreak she has hit an all-time low.
Until she meets Justine. Justine is the real deal.
It’s hard to woo the woman of your dreams whilst impersonating a goblin. But, stuck in a world of make believe, Anna discovers that what she truly wants is something real.
The Real Deal is a darkly comic piece of story-telling, exploring isolation, hope and pretending to be a monster when you’re 37 years old.
Directed by Gemma Arrowsmith (writer on: Tracey Ullman’s Show, Tracey Breaks The News, Newsjack, The Now Show)
WHEN: 22nd Nov 2018
TIME: 9pm
WHERE: Omnibus Theatre
PRICE: £13, £11 concessions (Unreserved seating)
#mondaymotivation
#retailweek #retailtrends #retailnews #Retail & #Brand trends for w/e 16th November 2018 #marketingweek
Company Results:
| • | ASDA have reported a 3.7% increase in net sales during 13 weeks ending 29 September 2018. Like-for-like sales increased by 2.0%, while online penetration increased by 14.5% during the same period.
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| • | AllSaints have reported an 8.0% increase in sales to £327.0m for the year ending 28 February 2018. Underlying profits decreased from £26.0m to £10.6m during the same period. (Source: Retail Gazette)
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| • | AO World have reported a 9.9% increase in group revenue for the six months ending 30 September 2018. Total UK revenue increased by 5.7% while, European revenue increased by 35.5% for the same period. (Source: GlobalData) |
| • | Auto Trader Group have reported a 7.0% y-o-y increase in revenue to £176.8m for the six month ending 30 September 2018. Profit before tax reported 9.0% y-o-y increase to £114.5m over the same period. |
| • | B&M have reported a 16.1% increase in revenue to £1,346.4m for the 26 weeks ending 29 September 2018. UK revenue increased by 7.1% to £1,276.1m while, underlying UK like-for-like sales increased by 0.9% for the same period. |
| • | Card Factory have reported a 3.4% increase in group revenue for the nine months ending 31 October 2018. Getting personal revenue decreased by 8.9% for the same period.
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| • | Inchcape have reported a 2.0% increase in group revenue at £2.3bn for the three month ending 30 September 2018. Distribution revenue and retail revenue have increased by 3.0% and 1.0% respectively during the same period. |
Clothing, Footwear & Accessories:
• Building on an existing formalwear partnership Paul Smith has entered into a contract with Manchester United on a capsule collection of graphic accessories that mixes Paul Smith designs with Manchester United’s football heritage. The new collection will be available from the Paul Smith website and selected Paul Smith shops worldwide, as well as the Manchester United Megastore and United Direct. (Source: Retail Bulletin)
• Debenhams have appointed former Costa Coffee executive Clive Bentley as their new Property Director, replacing Rob Hadfield with effect from December 2018. (Source: Retail Gazette)
• House of Fraser have confirmed the closure of four stores after their new owner Sports Direct failed to agree reduced rent deals with the shops’ landlords. The stores earmarked for closure are in Nottingham, Norwich, the Metrocentre in Newcastle and the Lakeside shopping centre in Thurrock. (Source: Retail Bulletin)
• Ivy Park have announced that Beyonce has taken over 100.0% ownership of the activewear clothing line after buying Sir Philip Green’s share of the business. (Source: Retail Gazette)
• Peacocks, the fashion retailer, have become the latest retailer to join the industry-wide war on plastic, after it announced plans to switch to completely bio-degradable bags. The scheme will start being rolled out to all 500 of their stores around the UK from November 2018. (Source: Retail Gazette)
• Stance, the premium basic apparel brand, have opened their first store outside the US in London’s Covent Garden. The store at 3 Neal Street provide the brand’s range of socks, underwear and their new dual-gender t-shirt collection. (Source: Retail Bulletin)
• Superdrug have announced plans to open a new store in Biggleswade that features a Beauty Studio and nail bar offering a range of treatments. The store will offer customers an array of beauty products, everyday toiletries and gift items for Christmas. (Source: Retail Bulletin)
• TK Maxx have plans to open a new shop on Oxford Street, after signing a deal to take over a four-storey space left vacant by New Look.. With 30,000 sq.ft. of space, the new store is slated to open next spring. (Source: Retail Gazette)
Electrical & Entertainment:
• GAME Digital have appointed Ray Kavanagh as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) on a permanent basis. He has been working in the position on an interim basis since June 2018 and prior to that held the role of interim Director of Corporate Finance from January 2018. (Source: Retail Bulletin)
• WH Smith have teamed up with Duty Free Americas to open seven of their travel stores in RIOgaleão – Tom Jobim International Airport in Brazil. The stores are situated across the international departures, domestic departures and the main entrance areas of the airport. (Source: Retail Bulletin)
Food & Drink:
• Asda have become the latest retailer to launch an initiative in support of Purple Tuesday. The grocer is set to trial an inclusive hour in their stores in Kent and Manchester, which will see selected stores turn off electric distractions for shoppers with autism and dementia. (Source: Retail Gazette)
• Central England Co-operative have appointed Debbie Robinson as their Chief Executive. She will replace Martyn Cheatle and take up the new role in May 2019. (Source: The Grocer)
• Fortnum & Mason have opened a new City store at the Royal Exchange in London. The 2,368 sq.ft. of retail space offer customers an edit of products from their Piccadilly flagship, which sells upscale grocery as well as luxury beauty, homewares and fashion accessories. (Source: Retail Gazette)
• Food Warehouse have opened a new £1.5m store that incorporates their first ever ‘Wine Warehouse’ department. The new department offers 300 lines and is managed by wine specialist staff who will be looking to demystify wines for customers who would like help and advice when buying. (Source: Retail Bulletin)
• Holland & Barrett have appointed former Argos Managing Director John Walden as their new Chairman, and reported an uplift in full year sales. John will lead the board of Holland & Barrett through this important phase of strategic investment with immediate effect. (Source: Retail Bulletin)
• Tim Hortons have signed up their first franchisee in the UK and Ireland. Graeme and Lisa Tobias will become the first partners to operate the brand in the UK and will open their first drive-thru outlet in Stenhousemuir in Scotland by the end of 2018. (Source: Retail Bulletin)
Household:
• Arket have launched their first West Midlands store at Birmingham’s Bullring. The store is situated on the Bullring’s upper level and stocks the brand’s full range of collections for men, women, children and the home. (Source: Retail Bulletin)
• Habitat have opened a new flagship store in Brighton on the city’s North Street, which is the brand’s first city-centre opening in ten years. Designed by an in-house team, the store features over 3,000 products from the Habitat collection across furniture, lighting, textiles and home accessories. (Source: Retail Bulletin)
• Made.com have announced plans to build showrooms around Europe to enhance their brand value and to give customers a great experience, as opposed to directly driving sales. The objective is to engage with their customer baseand the showrooms are an extension of their online business. (Source: Retail Bulletin)
Courtesy of ‘Barclays‘
FILM REVIEW: Fahrenheit 11/9
For a long time now I have been a fan of Michael Moore. This stemmed from first reading his book titled ‘Stupid White Men‘ waayyy back in 2002. There was controversy at the time of it’s release since it came shortly after 9/11. I’ve always found Michael Moore to be on the right side of politics, not afraid to hold those in power to account. It was therefore no surprise that I would be keen to see his latest documentary – Fahrenheit 11/9. Given that his previous expose of the equivalent title ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ looked at the Presidency of George Bush, I widely expected this release to focus on President Trump as had been depicted in the previews and trailers. Actually what my take away from this was that it principally looks at the conditions that created an opportunity for Trump to win. Trump is more of a passenger seat driver as we are taken on a journey surrounding the infamous elections.
We are given a glimpse of the failings of the Democrats behaving in an anti-democratic way through their endorsement of Clinton over Sanders. The Flint water SCANDAL also features prominently, perhaps not a surprise given that Moore himself was born in Flint. It’s inconceivable that a country can blatantly get away with poisoning it’s own people but this is EXACTLY what is happened. Governor Rick Snyder, (a good friend of Trump) and his administration have been widely blamed for the mistakes that led to the crisis. However the crisis began under Obama’s Presidency and it was his unsympathetic visit to the town of Flint, which led to the biggest disappointment of many who saw ‘hope’ when it was announced he would be in town. Ultimately there were 12 deaths from the poisoning of residents and thousands exposed to lead.
I guess this is why I like Michael Moore whether it be as a director or writer. He has his morals and values but one cannot help but recognise his own disappointment on how his country continues to carry down a slippery slope of poor judgement coupled with blatant disregard for the working class, poor and people of colour.
Moore’s docs pretty much don’t leave you walking away with a sense of optimism. Instead (and in Michael’s own words) you scratch your head with the words circling ‘How The Fuck Did This Happen‘
Courtesy of ‘The Thinker‘
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