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

Telegraph

Payoff for Mothercare finance chief
By Dominic White (Filed: 04/03/2003)


Mothercare, the baby products retailer, yesterday ousted Mark McMenemy as its finance director in the first stage of a much-anticipated shake-up by the new chief executive, Ben Gordon.

Mr McMenemy, who also acted as chief executive for much of last year, will receive compensation of as much as 300,000, equivalent to one year's base salary of 225,000 plus benefits.

He has been replaced by Stephen Glew, who was most recently finance director of golf and health club operator Crown Sports. Before that Mr Glew did the same job at Booker, which merged with Iceland in 2001. The majority of his pre-Booker career was spent at Tesco in finance and supply chain roles.

Analysts said Mr Glew's appointment signified the determination of Mr Gordon, who joined in December, to implement a long-awaited revamp, even though many remain unconvinced of his ability to turn the ailing group around. Mothercare has issued four profit warnings in just over a year and has suffered from a clutch of embarrassing distribution glitches.

Mr McMenemy took over as acting chief executive in July, when Chris Martin was ousted from the top position after the company came out with its third profit warning. Mothercare shares fell 0.5 to 95p.



Mothercare loses director

Chief continues shake-up

Richard Wray
Tuesday March 4, 2003
The Guardian

Embattled baby care retailer Mothercare yesterday ditched its finance director Mark McMenemy after less than two years. He is likely to receive a payoff
under his one year rolling contract in excess of 250,000.
The departure of Mr McMenemy, who was appointed in April 2001, is the latest change to the business wrought by new chief executive Ben Gordon.

Mr Gordon, a former Walt Disney executive, joined Mothercare last December and is building a team of turnaround specialists with a view to resurrecting the fortunes of the ailing retailer, which has warned on profits four times over the past year.

Mr McMenemy will be replaced immediately by Steven Glew, who helped to sell Booker to Iceland during his time as finance head of the cash and carry operator.

His appointment follows the arrival of Colin Astbury as Mothercare's logistics director in January.

Mr Gordon is undertaking an operational review of the Mothercare business and the results are expected to be unveiled in May when the retailer announces its annual results.

Mr Gordon may not, however, be given much time to turn the business around as it is already understood to be in the sights of several predators after a dramatic slide in its share price. Following four profit warnings shares in the company have dropped from over 3 in the summer of 2001 to well under 1.

In its most recent announcement, just six weeks ago, Mothercare warned of a 1.1% drop in like-for-like sales in the 13 weeks to January 10. The poor trading performance pushed Mothercare's shares to a new low of just 83p.

"Clearly this is an unacceptable performance and my priority is to fix retailing basics," said Mr Gordon at the time.

March 04, 2003

Finance director departs troubled retailer
By Sarah Butler TIMES



MOTHERCARE has parted company with Mark McMenemy, the finance director who spent six months running the troubled retailer last year while it was searching for a chief executive.
Mr McMenemy, who oversaw the distribution system that has been blamed for many of Mothercares problems, is set to receive a payoff of more than 300,000, including one years salary of 225,000.

He will be replaced by Stephen Glew, the former finance director of Crown Sports, the health and leisure club operator, and Booker, now part of the Iceland group.

Mothercare said Mr Glew had the necessary turnaround experience from his days at Booker. He also spent 15 years at Tesco, the UKs biggest supermarket operator, where he was finance and supply chain director at the Irish operation.

Ben Gordon, the new chief executive of Mothercare, said he may hire more top managers. He said: I am building a team for the turnaround of Mothercare.

Stuart Rose, Mr Glews former boss at Booker, said: Stephen has the right credentials for the stage Mothercare is in. I have high regard for him and am sure hell do well.

Shares in Mothercare fell p to 95p.

Analysts doubted whether the appointment of Mr Glew would have much impact on the loss-making group. One said: This is a business which has been through more management teams than most companies. It needs to do something more drastic to get back on to an upward trajectory.

Mothercare is expected to tell investors how it will reorganise its distribution in the next few months. The company is understood to have sought quotations from distribution companies to take over from Tibbett & Britten, the operator of Mothercares problematic Daventry warehouse.

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 :-))



ains

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


ains

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



ains

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


ains

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

Currently 120/124p


ains

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



ains

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


ains