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Jun- 2020 -30 June
Should I stay closed or reopen?
Since the start of lockdown, most owner managers have become used to real-time contingency planning and agile decision making. However, with non-essential shops now allowed to reopen, they have been faced with another high-risk financial decision – should they stay closed or reopen? Knowing the key areas to consider and…
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25 June
Is it time retailers challenged digital transformation?
I think we have all heard enough about how quickly we have adapted to working from home, the constant play on words of “new normal”, “next normal”, “old normal” (whatever that means) and the “I told you so” smugness of digital transformation agencies (yes, I am from one of them!)…
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23 June
Three ways that Covid-19 will change British retail forever
In the midst of a global pandemic the UK high street is suffering more than ever before with many ailing big names, from fashion retailer French Connection warning it will run out of cash within the next few months unless it secures a cash injection, to the ongoing struggles of…
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22 June
The perfect storm?
There is something of a ‘perfect storm’ for our town centres… Fewer shops trading than a few months ago, big brands announcing further closures, plans already on the table for repurposing retail space no longer viable, travel restrictions making it harder for people to reach town centres, now fewer people…
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19 June
How e-commerce can maintain business continuity in the face of Covid-19
Covid-19 and the government stay-at-home and shutdown orders have wreaked havoc on the retail industry. Footfall was down 44.7% in March. High street stores without ecommerce operations saw sales collapse. Primark, for instance, saw its monthly sales of £650m a month evaporate. And whilst ecommerce retailers have the advantage of…
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19 June
How email can save the high street
According to IMRG, online sales in the UK grew by just 6.7% in 2019. The current pandemic, though, helped online retail sales soar to ten year high. A recent press release by IMRG reports growth to a “staggering +23.8% Year-on-Year (YoY) in April 2020, as high streets across the country…
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19 June
Retailers must ensure the mental health of their workforce is a top priority
According to the World Health Organisation, in recent years depression has crept up the ladder to become the most common cause of ill health & disability worldwide. In the UK, at any time, one in six adults reports themselves as suffering from depression or anxiety or phobia or OCD, (that…
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19 June
Making the UK workplace COVID safe
Rumours of the imminent return of the hospitality sector may have been overstated. Many operators may be ready to open in some shape or other after weeks of painstaking planning to ensure that premises can trade. But until employees are back off furlough, premises have been deep cleaned and the…
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18 June
Temperature checking employees – don’t get your fingers burnt in an employment tribunal
As lockdown eases, retailers are looking closely at sensible practical measures that they can implement to help minimise the risk of Covid-19 spreading within workplaces. Many lessons have been learnt from the experiences of essential retailers who have either stayed open throughout the pandemic, or who have now reopened their…
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17 June
The need for speed – How retailers can respond to consumers’ ‘mobile-first’ behaviour
The retail landscape has been altered beyond all recognition in the light of COVID. The fact that things won’t go back to how they were was recently acknowledged by the CEO of M&S Steve Rowe. He envisaged a future where customers “may never shop the same way again” after the…
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