Italian fashion label Versace has acknowledged that it may be willing to allow outside investment in the future, a step which several of its rivals have already taken. In an interview with financial news site Reuters, the company’s Chief Executive Gian Giacomo Ferraris stated that “The family is now aware that we need to seize the moment and fund our growth.

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British Telecom has published a press release revealing that its retail specialist division, BT Expedite, developed a new cloud-based version of its Store 6.3 Point of Sale solution for clothing and accessories store Fat Face. The retailer is using BT Expedite’s Multichannel Connected Retailer Suite, which is hosted on BT’s Global Services On Demand Compute cloud platform and is capable of growing or shrinking depending on Fat Face’s requirements at the time.

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KFC is to launch an app which will allow customers to pay for purchases through mobile devices. With m-commerce rapidly increasing its importance in the global market, a number of restaurants have recently begun to integrate smartphones into their retail services. McDonalds began offering a contactless card payment service in 2011.

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Superdry's new Trinity Leeds store. Superdry owner SuperGroup got a much needed boost in confidence yesterday as a buy note saw stocks surge. SuperGroup topped the mid-cap index on Wednesday, following a recommendation from Bethany Hocking at Investec that suggested the retailer’s turbulent past is “overshadowing the considerable changes that have taken place”.

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According to reports, fashion retailer Zara is under investigation after it was allegedly discovered that immigrant labourers in Argentina, including children, were working under sweatshop conditions. The Guardian reported that raids were made on several factories producing clothes with the Zara label after the non-government workers’ rights organization La Alameda submitted a tip-off regarding the alleged poor conditions.

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Interserve is to construct a new shopping centre in Edinburgh, next to Haymarket train station. The planned development is the result of British construction company Interserve signing a deal with Scottish landowner Tiger Developments. The project is predicted to cost approximately £160.5 million and could result in 3,500 new jobs being created.

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Apple, which has faced widespread criticism for its consumer practice policies in China in recent weeks, has issued an official apology and has promised changes in the near future. Apple has been labelled as “arrogant” in China as a result of various issues with its consumer practices and poor communication with its customers in the Chinese market.

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Sir James Dyson has appointed his two sons, Sam and Jake, as non-executive directors in his company’s board. Sir James’ son Jake is a 40 year old design engineer while Sam is a 35 year old musician. Both are business owners and both have been present at Dyson’s quarterly shareholder meetings.

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Image Credit: Alliance Boots
Leading pharmaceutical and cosmetics firm Alliance Boots plans to cut 200 of its workers currently employed in BCM, the company’s contract manufacturer. The cuts are a reaction to reduced demand for contract manufacturing in today’s market. The intention is for the 200 employees to be reassigned to other areas of Alliance Boots over the next two years.

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In a year which has seen bitterly cold weather and uncharacteristically high levels of snowfall, retailers and suppliers have been striving to ensure that British stores remain stocked with food. Grocery retail news website The Grocer was informed of multiple stories of suppliers and retailers going to great measures to ensure that consumers did not find themselves without the products they needed.

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