I have been in and out of these a few times :-)) ..... bumping around their bottom but starting to bounce a little ..... closed @ 87/90p on Friday.

They have fallen from grace because of poor distribution probelens caused by poor management and an out of House warehousing system. THis is being sorted and new guys have replaced the old .....

Great brand name and selling could be overdone ..... anyway I am in for a few @ 90p and will let them ride for a while - not a t trade. Recent director buying around this price


ains


bought @ 90p - currently moving up at 141/145p 13/05 = plus 56.66% net

I live in Bristol...Mothercare is the only store thats closing this month and leaving our large shopping Mall complex

Staff tell me co. does not want to pay the new increased cost of new lease

Problem with this co is became conplacent in the 90's

Other stores like H&M have taken its lower cheaper market away...and made it trendy

Other smaller boutigue stores...and John Lewis have taken the premium end
Baby Gap etc

Its does well on prams, buggies cots...but thats all IMHO

Its a bid and break up target...thats your best bet for value

Not sure I would go as far as you but agree they have lost their way .... poor management despite a captive audience .... needs someone to pull it together - sort out the stocking situation and move forward in a new way .... at current prices I see a win /win situation



ains

New FD at baby products retailer
By Larry Schlesinger [04-03-2003]
Troubled baby care products retailer Mothercare has appointed a new finance director to take charge of the loss-making group.
Link: For more company ws
Steven Glew takes charge of the finances today, after the company said goodbye to Mark McMenemy after just six months in the role.

Glew is described by Mothercare as having an 'an excellent track record in senior financial roles in the retail and leisure sectors'.

His recent positions include group finance director at Crown Sports. and Booker plc, where he was part of the executive team, that helped with the merger with Iceland Plc in 2001.

He also spent 15 years at Tesco, rising to become FD of Tesco Stores Ltd and FD at Tesco Stores Ireland.

Sounds promising and will clearly help to get the share price moving

ains




Mothercare to tighten supply chain
9 March 2003, Mail on Sunday

STRUGGLING retailer Mothercare is close to striking a deal ending the chaos in its distribution system that has triggered a string of profits warnings. As recently as Christmas, it seemed the company would scrap the arrangement under which its goods go through a state-of the-art depot in Daventry, Northamptonshire, run by logistics specialists Tibbett & Britten.




But costs at Daventry have already been cut and Mothercare's new chief executive, Ben Gordon, wants to give the operation another chance to prove itself. The company is keeping open the option of severing its links with Tibbett & Britten.


Problems with the warehouse meant that many of Mothercare's 240 outlets did not receive adequate supplies of the right goods. Extra staff were hired to sort out the chaos and the firm struck a deal with Tibbett & Britten's rival Exel to handle some goods through a warehouse in Coventry.


Running two warehouses has added 3 million to annual costs.

market seems to like this


LONDON (AFX) - Mothercare PLC said it has decided to remain at its current facility in Daventry with Tibbett & Britten as principal contractor and has signed a revised contract.

This conclusion was reached after a thorough financial and operational review of a wide range of options, which included changing both site and contractor.

In a statement to the stock exchange it said it would remain at Daventry because the warehouse is working effectively and costs are beginning to reduce.

It added the contract with Tibbett & Britten has been amended to a two-year rolling contract with a management fee that includes an element payable against the achievement of performance measures.

It also said remaining at the Daventry site is low risk as Mothercare will avoid the disruption and costs which would arise from another warehouse move.

Ben Gordon is currently undertaking a fundamental operational review of the business, including the Supply Chain, it said.

Ben Gordon, Chief Executive, Mothercare, said: 'We have worked with rigour and speed to reach this conclusion. We have considered every option and looked for the most appropriate solution to support the business at this time.

'We believe that the decision to remain at Daventry with Tibbett & Britten gives Mothercare stability now and the flexibility to review our requirements in two years time and to accommodate the conclusions of the supply chain work we are undertaking.

'Working closely with Tibbett & Britten, we are making good progress in improving the cost structure and performance of the warehouse and continue to meet customer needs effectively.'

rn

Up 2.53% on the day


Mothercare shrugs off warehouse woes

Mothercare has put teething problems at a new distribution centre behind it after agreeing to extend its stay at the facility.

The company endured a difficult start to life at the warehouse in Daventry, Northamptonshire after its stores ran out of products in Christmas 2001 and the costs of the operation remained higher than expectations.

But Watford-based Mothercare has decided to stay put after reviewing its contract with supply chain management company Tibbett & Britten.

It has reduced a five-year fixed contract to a two-year rolling one and introduced performance bonuses as part of the deal.

Ben Gordon, who reviewed the contract in one of his first tasks as chief executive, says there are signs the warehouse is working more effectively.

One of the options considered was a move elsewhere but Mr Gordon says this would have been disruptive.

He added: "We have considered every option and looked for the most appropriate solution to support the business at this time."

Mothercare, which has 247 stores, has been battling over the last year to improve its fortunes but said in November warehousing and distribution costs were a "major impediment" to its recovery drive.

Mothercare, which is due to announce annual results on May 22, endured another difficult Christmas in 2002 with like-for-like sales in the 13 weeks to January 10 down 1.1%. Shares rose more than 2% to 101.5p today.


Story filed: 13:15 Wednesday 26th March 2003

March 27, 2003

Mothercare in warehouse deal
By Sarah Butler TIMES



MOTHERCARE, the specialist retailer, is to retain the warehouse that has been at the centre of its financial problems over the past two years.
After an operational review, Mothercare has renegotiated its contract with Tibbett & Britten, the logistics company that runs its Daventry warehouse. It said yesterday that the new contract would give it greater flexibility because the duration of the contract has been cut from five years to two.

Mothercare has also linked Tibbett & Brittens fees to performance targets, which City analysts argued should already have been in place.

The retailer is understood to have sought quotes on alternative facilities but was eventually forced to renegotiate with Tibbett & Britten because of the costs of terminating its contract and relocating elsewhere.

Mothercare claimed that the Daventry facility is operating more efficiently, but admitted that it would continue to use a back-up warehouse in Coventry at least until 2004. A spokeswoman said: Mothercare has taken some costs out, things are running more efficiently now but there are more to go.

She said that renegotiating the contract gave Mothercare stability while it assessed its total supply chain and had the freedom to quit Daventry in two years if it was necessary.

Analysts welcomed Mothercares decision to stay put at the Northamptonshire storage facility, saying that it was positive for the business at this stage. Iain McDonald, of Numis, the brokerage firm, said: This is good news. I am sure Mothercare would rather it didnt need the additional capacity but the bottom line is that it has got to get stock into the stores and this ensures it can deliver that. He added: It has enough going on in the business right now with product and store development and they need to put this issue to one side and get on with running the business.

Mothercares shares rose 2p to 101p yesterday.

Bernard Cragg appointed non exec - brian Hardy steps down

shares are 100/103p up way over 10% since we started



ains

Mothercare said that it has appointed Bernard Cragg as a Non-executive director to the Board with immediate effect. Bernard Cragg is Chairman of Datamonitor and a Non-executive director of Bank of Ireland, U.K. Financial Services and Bristol & West. Brian Hardy, who is currently a Non-Executive director will step down at Mothercare's Annual General Meeting in July 2003.

Legal and General announce a notifiable interest of 3.97% :-))

Still @ 100/103p against the buy @ 90p :-)) - Will add a few more as funds materialise from my ENIC venture


ainsoph

Moving up fast ..... in symathy with selfridges I suspect :-))



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On the move again .... over 3% up intraday @ 106/110p .... showing a 15% net gain on these over 9 weeks


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Ticking up lots on no volume - 5 month high @ 110/115p

nice close @ 117/119p on relatively modest volume .... up 30% net since we started and 9% today



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A mini bout of early morning profit taking was soon squashed and we are on the move northwards again ..... 118/123p up over 2% intraday on high volume of nearly 200K


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M+G have added another 127K and have a total of 10.6 million shares or 15.03%

Currently 120/124p


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Ticking up again @ 123/126p ...... highest for 8 months

Lot of talk in recent days that looking after children is one of the fastest growing areas in the service industry - just wondering if this brushes off on to parents spendng more



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Still ticking up @ 126/129p .... keeps looking over bought on the ST indicators .... but becomes even more so

H2 later this month - maybe some good news is on it's way


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Up again on early morning buys ..... something is going on


127/131p

Ticking up again @ 132/136