Evolution, not reinvention.
- The brands that win build on existing strengths, not dramatic pivots
- e.l.f. enters haircare; Adanola passes £100m
- The What Supp Co cracks Boots bootstrapped, at 81% margin
The control play.
- The biggest moves of the week were about owning the value chain
- Frasers bids £1.7bn for Hugo Boss; Ingredion buys Tate & Lyle
- Accenture and CAA both move to buy up the creator economy
The easiest path.
- Brands now compete on friction, not just product
- The UK's first agentic-commerce checkout launches (Hey Savi + PayPal)
- When AI does the buying, the race is to be the product it chooses
Building to exit.
- AI takes 80% of Q1 venture funding, squeezing consumer capital
- Phia and Ôrebella raise; Trapstar collapses, Radley is sold out of administration
- Why the realistic exit is now a trade sale, not a mega-round
The deal you don't make.
- As capital turns selective, discipline gets rewarded
- Estée Lauder walks from a $40bn merger; Brown-Forman rejects $15bn
- Everlane sells to Shein: when the cap table beats the brand
The conviction play.
- The biggest outcomes come from bold bets made before certainty arrives
- Krissy Cela opens Oner Active's first store in Manhattan, not London
- Olivia Jade, Alix Earle's SIPMARGS and YouTube's TV checkout
The infrastructure layer.
- The winners increasingly sit between demand and fulfilment
- TikTok Shop hits 20% of US social commerce; Etsy launches inside ChatGPT
- The maths of a platform that's subsidising your shelf space
The findability game.
- Discovery overtakes conversion as the growth battleground
- Adobe buys Semrush for $1.9bn to own AI-era 'findability'
- Instagram rewards originality, Netflix launches its own short-form feed
The influence economy.
- Influence is becoming an asset class of its own
- QVC files Chapter 11 as TikTok Shop becomes the UK's No.2 beauty retailer
- CHAMP's $500m fund: athletes swap appearance fees for equity
The retention era.
- Loyalty becomes the battleground as consumer confidence softens
- Boots reinvents the Advantage Card, Tesco Clubcard tops the rankings
- Why Townhouse's £130m valuation is a bet on the operating model, not nails
The experience premium.
- Sephora enters Scotland as UK brands double down on physical experience
- Performance-tea brand Mission raises from angels on a sports-team distribution model
- BRITA buys into beauty: what a strategic investment actually pays for