Sesame Bankhall Group (SBG) has acquired a strategic stake in New Homes Mortgage Services (NHMS) LLP.

NHMS is the largest appointed representative mortgage and protection firm in SBG’s Sesame Network, of which it has been a member for almost 30 years.

The deal sees SBG acquire a significant stake in the 40-adviser strong business, with the option to increase the shareholding in the future.

This is the first advice firm investment since SBG launched its new business growth strategy under CEO Richard Harrison earlier this year.

The Cannock-based NHMS is a mortgage and protection advisory business specialising in the new build market.

It has 40 advisers and 80 employees and looks after the needs of 45,000 clients, with over £760m of mortgage lending and £1.4m of protection premiums annually.

While Richard Harrison will join the NHMS Board, the management team will remain unchanged, as will the roles and responsibilities of employees.

The news follows the recent announcement of a new strategic partnership between SBG’s PMS Mortgage Club and Bankhall businesses and intermediary platform Acre to jointly invest and create bespoke technology solutions for the Directly Authorised (DA) adviser market.

Harrison said: “The investment in New Homes Mortgage Services is a significant step in our own journey and a clear indication of our ambitious business strategy and commitment to grow and develop our adviser network and the wider Group, through both organic growth and investment in like-minded adviser businesses.

NHMS managing director, Stewart Bartle, added: “We have ambitious plans to grow the business, and this was a natural next step in our journey to enable us to do that.

“From day one, it was clear that Sesame Bankhall Group’s own adviser-led growth strategy and vision matched ours, making them the perfect partner to support our long-term aim to become the UK’s largest mortgage broker, helping more people to achieve their home ownership goals.”

Sesame Bankhall Group is wholly owned by Aviva and provides support services to financial advisers across the UK. It is currently home to over 10,000 advisers.

SAINSBURY’S has issued a major update regarding the closure of more Argos stores.

The supermarket chain, which owns Argos, plans to shut nine more standalone locations in the upcoming financial year. 

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This move is part of an ongoing strategy to transition the brand’s presence from traditional high street stores to integrated concessions within Sainsbury’s supermarkets.

It comes as Sainsbury’s interim results released yesterday showed sales at Argos slipped by 5% in the 28 weeks to September 14.

Sainsbury’s general merchandise and clothing sales also declined by 1.5% during this period.

Argos’ owner added: “For the full financial year we expect to open 13 Argos stores within Sainsbury’s and close nine standalone stores.”

Sainsbury’s has not yet disclosed the locations of the next round of Argos store closures.

The company also stated that it has not yet informed employees at the stores that will be affected.

A spokesperson for Argos told The Sun: “The transformation of our Argos store and distribution network has been progressing at pace for several years now, improving availability, convenience and service for customers.”

“As part of this, we are continuing to open new Argos stores and collection points in many of our Sainsbury’s supermarkets, enabling customers to purchase thousands of technology, home and toy products from Argos while picking up their groceries.”

Argos has closed dozens of stores over the last two years.

Since March 2023, Sainsbury’s has reduced the number of standalone Argos stores by 72, down to 213 from 385.

However, it has increased the number of Argos stores within Sainsbury’s supermarkets by 22 – from 424 to 446.

The most recent closure occurred on October 17, when the Argos store in Plymouth city centre permanently shut its doors.

Before this, the Argos store in Greenock, Inverclyde, unexpectedly ceased operations on September 14.

Last year all 34 Argos stores in the Republic of Ireland were shut down.

The company blamed the closure of the stores on the investment required to develop and modernise the Irish part of its business as “not viable”.

HISTORY OF ARGOS

FOUNDED in 1972 by Richard Tompkins, Argos revolutionised the British retail landscape with its unique catalogue-based shopping model.

The first store opened in Canterbury, Kent and quickly expanded, becoming a household name.

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Customers could browse the extensive Argos catalogue, fill out a purchase slip, and collect their items from the in-store collection point.

The retailer was sold to British American Tobacco Industries in 1979 for £32million before being demerged and listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1990.

In April 1998, the company was acquired by GUS plc.

Throughout the decades, Argos adapted to changing consumer habits, embracing e-commerce early on and launching its website in 1999.

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This allowed customers to reserve items online for in-store pick-up, blending the convenience of digital shopping with the immediacy of physical retail.

By 2006, Argos became part of the Home Retail Group which was demerged from its parent GUS plc.

At the time, Home Retail Group also owned Homebase and Habitat.

In 2016, Argos, along with its Home Retail Group sister brand Habitat, was acquired by Sainsbury’s.

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Since the acquisition, the Argos brand has been integrated into Sainsbury’s operations, significantly expanding its presence through dedicated concessions within Sainsbury’s supermarkets across the UK.

However, due to declining sales, Sainsbury’s discontinued Argos’ iconic printed catalogue in 2020.

Despite these setbacks, Argos has remained true to its roots, offering a wide range of products from toys and electronics to furniture and jewellery.

SALES UP AT SAINSBURY’S

Despite a decline in sales for both Argos and Sainsbury’s general merchandise and clothing, grocery sales surged by 5% in the 28 weeks leading up to September 14.

The retailer said it was boosted by strong Taste the Difference premium range sales and Nectar membership pricing.

Simon Roberts, chief executive of Sainsbury’s, said: “Our food business is going from strength to strength and we’re making the biggest market share gains in the industry, with continued strong volume growth.

“More and more customers are coming to us for their big food shop, recognising our winning combination of value, quality and service.

“As we head into the festive season, there is real energy and excitement at Sainsbury’s and Argos, and we’re expecting another strong performance.”

Sainsbury’s total underlying pre-tax profit was up 4.7% to £356million.

The supermarket chain is also expected to open 13 new supermarkets in the coming months.

Ten of these new stores, scheduled to open soon, were acquired from DIY retailer Homebase, while the remaining three were purchased from Co-op Food.

However, the boss of the supermarket giant also warned that shoppers will face higher food prices after the Budget’s tax raid on employers.

PRICES TO RISE

Last week, Rachel Reeves hiked the employer rate of National Insurance (NI) from 13.8% to 15%.

She also announced a reduction to the threshold at which businesses start paying NI contributions from £9,100 to £5,000.

It’s estimated that the move will raise £25billion – the equivalent of around £800 per employee for each firm.

Businesses, particularly within the hospitality sector, have warned that the increased financial burden could lead to higher operating costs, which may ultimately be passed on to consumers through price rises.

Mr Roberts said the NI hike would cost Sainsbury’s an extra £140million.

His comments come after Wetherspoons and Marks & Spencer warned of a combined £160million hit from the Chancellor’s decision to increase employer contributions.

Mr Roberts said: “It will lead to inflation and it’s pretty clear it’s going to come pretty fast.

“Given the low margins of the industry, there isn’t the capacity to absorb this level of un­expected cost inflation.”

Asda has also warned about rising prices.

The Entertainer has scrapped plans to open two new stores due to the extra costs associated with the NIC hike.

On Tuesday, the chief executive of Primark’s parent company, Associated British Foods, said he felt “the weight of tax rises” in the Budget was falling on the UK high street.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) also said last week that the Treasury’s sharp increase in spending would lead to higher inflation in the coming months.

Despite official figures from October showing that inflation fell to 1.7%, its lowest level since April 2021, the OBR expects inflation to average 2.5% this year and 2.6% next year.

Stockholm-based Truecaller, known for its apps that help you verify and identify contacts, announced the appointment of Rishit Jhunjhunwala as its group CEO, effective January 9, 2025. Jhunjhunwala is the current Chief Product Officer and Managing Director of India operations.

The posting comes after CEO Alan Mamedi and Chief Strategy Officer Nami Zarringhalam announced their decision to step down from their operational roles. The Stockholm exchange-listed company also rescheduled the publication of its interim report following the changes.

 “I am very excited as well as honoured that the board along with Alan and Nami have appointed me as the CEO… Having worked closely with Alan and Nami since 2015, I know these are big shoes to fill, but I amconfident to continue tirelessly working towards getting us closer to our mission to make future communication more safe and secure,” said Jhunjhunwala, the incoming CEO of Truecaller.

India-born Swedish national

Rishit Jhunjhulwala was born and raised in India. He moved to Sweden, joining Trucaller in 2015 and stayed till 2022. In between, he took on the role of the MD of Truecaller India and has held it since 2021. He is now a Swedish citizen.

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Jhunjhulwala currently looks after two of Truecaller’s major revenue-making arms, advertising and “Truecaller for Business”.

Before joining Truecaller, Jhunjhulwala helped in founding Cloudmagic Inc, the Bengaluru and Florida-based company that operates Newton Mail. He also served as the Vice President of Strategic Programs at then-July Systems, which later got injected into the cloud platform, Cisco Spaces, after its acquisition in 2018. Back in 2000, the incoming Truecaller CEO also co-founded Verity Technologies, a valued-added-service startup in the Indian telecommunications space.