Consumer & Retail Reporter · Paris

Claire Dubois

Covers: Retail and consumer brand expansion

Claire reports on consumer brands and retailers winning shelf space, marketplace listings and distribution deals across the UK and Europe. Based in Paris, she spent several years at a French retail trade weekly and has covered food, beauty and fashion launches from Milan to Manchester. She is interested in the distributors and buyers who quietly decide which brands succeed abroad.

Latest from Claire

Anonymous AI infrastructure staff working at desks in a London office, with brick buildings visible through the windows.

Expansion Funding

Modal Labs raises $750m after opening London office

The AI infrastructure company’s Series D values it at $15.75bn, as its new London operation recruits commercial teams to support European expansion.

15 Oct

Anonymous lending staff reviewing paperwork at desks in a modern UK banking office.

B2B Commercial Expansion

LHV Bank names Damian Thompson CEO for UK lending expansion

Former Starling executive Damian Thompson is due to join LHV Bank on 4 January 2027, bringing experience of scaling mortgage and SME lending.

13 Oct

Warehouse robots on an aluminium storage grid beside a picking station in a UK fulfilment centre

Partnerships & Market Access

THG Fulfil adds ownership option to AutoStore partnership

THG Fulfil is adding outright purchases to its AutoStore distribution offer, giving brands another way to fund warehouse robotics alongside its service model.

02 Oct

Two software developers seen from behind working at laptops in a modest UK technology office.

Market Intelligence & Trends

Yoono founder puts international scalability ahead of market size

Richard Tavernor says the cost of taking iVendi into Europe shaped Yoono’s approach to product design, customer economics and technical leadership.

02 Oct

Anonymous financial technology staff at workstations in a Vilnius office, with network equipment beside their desks.

Market Intelligence & Trends

Axiology joins four-platform Pontes launch for digital securities

Vilnius-based Axiology is among four platforms using the Eurosystem’s new Pontes service, giving digital securities customers a central bank money settlement option.

29 Sept

An anonymous technician connects server-rack cables in an AI storage testing lab in Manchester.

Companies Entering New Markets

NetApp agrees to buy Manchester AI storage firm PEAK AIO

The undisclosed deal would bring PEAK AIO’s AI storage technology into NetApp, with founder Mark Klarzynski pointing to the US group’s global reach.

29 Sept

A technician checks server equipment in a London data centre supporting AI infrastructure.

Market Intelligence & Trends

European venture funding hits $17.6bn as AI takes majority

Bridgehead Insights reports a sharp rise in European venture investment, with national differences in funding and customers shaping where companies should expand.

23 Sept