Comment
Comment features expert perspectives and thought leadership from across the UK retail industry. This section includes opinion pieces, analysis, and commentary from senior retail executives, analysts, and sector specialists on the commercial, strategic, and operational forces shaping retail. Retail Sector’s Comment coverage explores issues such as consumer behaviour shifts, technology adoption, sustainability, regulation, and leadership — providing retail professionals with authoritative insight to inform decision-making and strategic planning.
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Jan- 2025 -29 January
From classroom to commerce: How Alok Ruia reinvented SockShop
Alok Ruia, Director of SockShop, did not initially set out to join the family business. The Ruia Group, founded by his father and uncles in the 1950s, started as a textile importing business in Manchester, supplying raw cloth to UK manufacturers. “It’s a family business to this day,” Ruia explains,…
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29 January
Makeke: The app helping independent retailers take on ecommerce giants
Jenniffer Gearheart-Tang, co-founder and CEO of Makeke, has always had an entrepreneurial streak. With a career spanning marketing, executive recruitment, and corporate innovation, she has consistently sought to bring disruptive ideas to market. Together with her husband, Drake Gearheart, Makeke’s Head of Product & Scalability, the duo have built a…
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27 January
Elevating retail with intuition, strategy, and people-first leadership
Wizz Selvey, founder of Wizz&Co, is a retail strategist and brand consultant whose career has been defined by a unique blend of intuition, creativity, and hands-on experience. From her early days in retail to leading buying at Selfridges and now running her consultancy, Selvey has developed a reputation for helping…
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22 January
Simon Bell: The rise of ethical retail
Simon Bell, CEO and co-founder of Immaculate Vegan, embodies a rare combination of creative vision and strategic acumen. With a career spanning over three decades in marketing, digital innovation, and e-commerce, Bell has taken his passion for sustainability and ethics to create a premium vegan marketplace. In this feature, Bell…
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15 January
Priya Chandé: Driving Purpose and Innovation in Retail
Priya Chandé, Global Brand director at WUKA, has had a career marked by ambition, resilience, and a deep-rooted commitment to making a difference. From her early days at L’Oréal, where she learned the intricacies of marketing global brands, to leading a purpose-driven startup in the women’s health space, Chandé’s story…
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15 January
Is New Look right to close up shops?
The tax increases unveiled in the October 2024 budget have further complicated the outlook for retailers in the new year. One such high street retailer, New Look, which has managed to narrow its pre-tax loss to £21.7m in the year to March 2024, now faces the difficult task of balancing…
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8 January
Shaping the future of retail analytics
Diane Wehrle, co-founder of Springboard, is a name synonymous with retail data innovation. Her journey from a business graduate to a pioneer in retail analytics is a testament to vision, resilience, and seizing untapped opportunities. In an industry often starved for real-time, actionable insights, Wehrle’s work has transformed how retailers…
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8 January
Blomma Beauty: Where natural skincare meets experiential retail
Karen MacDonald, owner of natural beauty retailer Blomma Beauty, has created a vibrant haven for natural and organic skincare enthusiasts in the heart of London’s Coal Drops Yard. Her journey from retail buying to founding a unique experiential store is a testament to the power of persistence, adaptability, and a…
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7 January
Strategic market entry: when to follow and when to challenge
The decision of how to enter a new market represents one of the most critical strategic choices a retailer can make. While conventional wisdom often suggests avoiding direct competition with established market leaders, the reality is more nuanced. Success depends on carefully analysing market conditions and choosing an approach that…
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3 January
Disrupting the world of off-price sales
Chris Griffin, CEO of Secret Sales, is a retail innovator with a bold vision: transforming how brands manage discounted inventory while preserving brand equity. Since acquiring Secret Sales in 2020, Griffin has overhauled it from a flash sale platform into one of the largest online marketplaces for discount fashion, apparel,…
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