Latest news with #GalenWeston
Irish Post
29-04-2025
- Business
- Irish Post
Primark holds course on global growth despite home market stumble
Retail giant with Irish origins sees strong international performance, but dip in UK and Irish sales Galen Weston and his wife Hilary in 2014 (Photo by Ben A. Pruchnie/Getty Images for Selfridges) PRIMARK — known as Penneys in Ireland — has reported a fall in profits, even as its global expansion strategy continues to pay dividends. Its parent company, Associated British Foods (ABF), this week announced a 10% decline in adjusted operating profit to £835 million for the six months to March, with group revenue dipping to £9.5 billion. While the brand is gaining ground in the U.S. and continental Europe, sales in home markets in Britain and Ireland fell by 4%. Today, ABF — the British conglomerate that owns Primark — is chaired by George Weston, Galen's nephew. 'Primark delivered good growth in Europe and the US with continued consumer caution in the U.K.,' Weston said. 'Our low-cost operating model is working well, and our focus remains on executing our growth initiatives in product, brand, digital and new markets.' While the company expects overall sales growth in the 'low single digits' for the year, new store openings in Europe and the US are expected to provide a 4–5% boost to annual revenues. While the Primark model — offering trend-led fashion at very thin profit margins — is under pressure from rising costs and changing consumer habits, it still retains a loyal customer base. Penneys was launched on Mary Street, Dublin, in 1969. The store was the brainchild of retailer Arthur Ryan, who remained a key figure in the business until his death in 2019. Trademark issues forced the company to adopt the Primark name when it expanded into the U.K. in 1973. The company's global headquarters remain in Dublin. The Westons, whose influence spans Canadian supermarkets, British department stores and luxury Irish retail, have maintained a firm grip on the company's trajectory. The late Galen Weston Sr — who spent much of his childhood in Ireland — was instrumental in backing Arthur Ryan's early vision. The Weston family's operations began in the 1960s when Galen Weston opened six grocery stores in the Republic of Ireland. He later began operations in Northern Ireland. In 1966, he married one of Ireland's top fashion models, Hilary Frayne. By the early 1970s, the Westons had opened grocery stores across the island. They then acquired Irish company Penneys, founded by Arthur Ryan in Dublin in 1969. The Westons also bought the grocery chain Quinnsworth and acquired an interest in Brown Thomas in Dublin — which they eventually owned outright by 1981. In 1983, an attempted kidnapping of Galen Weston, believed to involve IRA members, was foiled when gardaí from the anti-terrorist unit opened fire on a five-member gang at the family's 200-acre estate in Co. Wicklow. Over a hundred shots were fired in the operation. The Westons were not at home at the time; Galen, then 42, was playing polo in Windsor with his friend, the then Prince Charles. In July 2015, tragedy struck the Ryan family when son Barry (51) drowned alongside his grandson Barry Davis Ryan (21) and girlfriend Niamh O'Connor (20) in a freak accident at East Hole outside Baltimore, west Cork.
CBC
20-02-2025
- Business
- CBC
Which Ontario party would make your life more affordable? Depends who you are
Social Sharing Ontario's main political parties are competing for the hearts of voters by appealing to their wallets, with a mix of tax cuts and money-back rebates pitched as helping with the cost of living. Doug Ford and his Ontario PC Party is campaigning off the one-time $200 cheque that his government is sending to every Ontarian, a $3 billion spend. Marit Stiles of the NDP is promising an ongoing monthly "grocery rebate" that would put about $4.9 billion per year back into the pockets of low-to-moderate income earners Bonnie Crombie's Liberal Party and Mike Schreiner's Green Party are both promising income tax cuts. The Liberals are targeting the middle-income bracket with about $2.8 billion in annual tax relief, while the Greens' proposal would cut about $4.7 billion from the the income taxes of both middle- and low-income earners. Here's a comparison of each party's promises to make your life more affordable. WATCH | Duelling affordability measures make for heated debate: Ontario's major party leaders debate their plans on improving affordability 2 days ago Duration 3:25 Ontario's four main party leaders went head to head on their plans to tackle the province's affordability crisis — and things got heated. PC: $200 cheques, gas tax cut Ford — who had not taken questions from reporters in Ontario for nine straight days as of Wednesday — spoke to factory workers about the $200 cheques during a campaign stop in Waterloo on Feb. 6. "The banks told me it was the largest cheque run they've done in the history of this country," Ford said of his government's decision to put some 15 million cheques in the mail starting in January. "It's not our money, it's your money. You paid it," said Ford, adding that his party's philosophy is to "give it back to the people that paid it." Ford, whose government was running a $6.6-billion deficit when he called the election, has repeatedly denied the rebate was designed as an election gimmick. "We were going ahead no matter if there was an election or no election," Ford said during a campaign news conference in Ottawa on Feb. 4. Ford's rivals are attacking him for sending an identical rebate to every Ontario taxpayer, regardless of their income. "Mr. Ford has handed out $200 cheques to millionaires and billionaires like (Loblaw chairman) Galen Weston, the guy gouging you at the grocery store," said Schreiner during a segment on affordability in Monday's televised debate. "Let me tell you, I am not going to be giving a $200 cheque to Galen Weston," Stiles chipped in shortly afterward. The other broad-based cost relief measure in the PC platform is a promise to make the ongoing 5.7 cent per litre cut in the provincial gas tax permanent. The PCs say it saves the average household $125 per year and costs the treasury roughly $620 million per year. NDP: Means-tested grocery rebate The NDP's promised grocery rebate would provide $40 monthly per adult and $20 monthly per child to all families with annual net household income of $65,000 or less and all individuals with annual net income of $50,000 or less. It is a means-tested rebate, so individuals and households earning more than those thresholds would receive smaller rebates. The rebate shrinks to zero for households with $100,000-plus or individuals with $65,000-plus annual incomes. During the Feb. 8 news conference in Toronto when she unveiled the promise, Stiles described it as one of the most important announcements of her election campaign. "This is going to help people every month, not just one time, one year, before an election, like Doug Ford just did," Stiles told reporters. "It's also going to help those people who need it the most." A family of four eligible for the full amount would receive $1,440 annually. The measure would cost the treasury $4.9 billion per year. A background document provided by the NDP says around 3.7 million households would receive some rebate, and roughly 30 per cent of Ontario families would be eligible for the maximum amount. The NDP is also pitching its rent control promises as an affordability measure. Stiles would rein in how much landlords can increase rent between tenants and also impose rent control on units built since 2018, which are currently exempt.. Liberal: Middle-income tax cut The Liberals released their tax cut plan in November, before the campaign began. It would reduce the provincial tax rate on income between $51,446 and $75,000 to 7.15 per cent from the current rate of 9.15 per cent. In a background document, the Liberals say this would save an average household $950 per year. Along with a promise to remove the HST from home heating and hydro bills — saving each household an average of $200 per year — the Liberals say the measures would cost the treasury $2.8 billion per year. The income tax cut would not do anything for anyone earning less than $51,446 per year. In response to a question on that during Monday's debate, Crombie responded by pointing to the promised HST cut and her promise to double Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) rates. "I ask people, 'Is your life more affordable today than it was before Doug Ford?' Clearly the answer to that is no," Crombie said Wednesday at a campaign event in the eastern Ontario riding of Glengarry-Prescott-Russell. "We're going to put money back in your pocket," Crombie said, echoing a line that Ford used frequently in previous campaigns. Green: Income tax cut Schreiner's Greens are proposing an income tax cut that would apply to all individuals earning less than $65,000 and all households with joint income less than $100,000. The promise would deliver as much as $1,700 per person in annual tax relief, according to Schreiner. The Green Party is the only one of the four major parties that has released full costing details of its promises. The document shows the incom tax cut would cost the treasury $4.7 billion, which would be offset by a roughly identical increase in annual revenue from a new wealth tax on households with $10 million or more in assets.
