Economy
The latest news, updates and analysis on the economy and how it is affecting the UK retail industry. Sign up to the Daily Briefing and let Retail Sector’s business journalists keep you in the picture.
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Jan- 2019 -7 January
Morrisons to launch new vegan range off the back of 6% sales increase
Morrisons has announced a 6% total sales rise excluding fuel for the 13 week period to 4 November. The supermarket chain said sales growth had eased quarter-on-quarter “without the impact of the favourable weather and World Cup”. Like-for-like sales excluding fuel at Morrisons were up by 5.6%, the supermarket said…
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7 January
Retail administrations rise for second consecutive year
The number of retailers entering into administration in 2018 was 125 – compared to 118 in 2017, an increase of 6% according to Deloitte’s latest insolvency figures. Furthermore, the number of retailers entering into company voluntary arrangements (CVAs) increased by 52%, from 25 in 2017 to 38 in 2018. Deloitte’s…
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4 January
Gaming market now bigger than video and music combined
The video games market now accounts for more than half of the entire UK entertainment market (51.3%), the Entertainment Retailer Association (ERA) has said. Total sales for the games market reached £3,863m in 2018, compared with the total music sales, increasing by £1,334m, and video sales, which reached £2,337m last…
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4 January
Shop prices rise in December despite discounting
Shop prices saw a 0.3% year-on-year increase in December despite many retailers discounting heavily during the festive period, the BRC-Nielsen Shop Price Index has revealed. This was pushed up by food items which saw a 1.5% increase overall; individually fresh food saw a 0.9% price hike while shelf-stable food prices…
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Dec- 2018 -21 December
London’s West End to receive £186m pre-Christmas boost
Shoppers visiting London’s West End are expected to spend £186m in the final three days before Christmas, according to New West End Company, who represent over 600 retailers, hoteliers and property owners in the region. During these final three days more discounts and promotions will be on offer, including up…
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20 December
Online breaks 20% of retail for first time
The quantity bought in retail sales increased by 0.4% in the three months to November 2018, driven by growths in non-food stores, online retailing and Black Friday promotions. According to the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), during the month online sales as a proportion of all…
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20 December
UK airport retailers expected to take over £56m during ‘busiest time of the year’
New research has found that UK travellers will spend over £56m at UK airports during this period, considered the “busiest time of the year”, spending on average £62 per person each time they fly. According to the research by payments company FreedomPay, UK airports are expecting almost one million passengers…
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19 December
John Lewis bucks retail woes with festive sales increase
John Lewis has bucked retail troubles reporting a total sales increase of 1.8% for the week to 15 December. The retailer blamed the rise on price-matching discounts and increased business from Christmas shoppers. The rise has defied trends elsewhere in the retail sector, where companies such as Asos have issued…
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19 December
Lowest November growth in seven years for online retail
UK online retail sales suffered its worst November growth since 2011 last month coming in at just +8.1% year-on-year (YoY), as Black Friday discounting failed to encourage consumer spending, according to the latest IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index. November fell below the three- (+8.3%), six- (+10.5%) and 12-month (+12.2%) sales…
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18 December
Consumer spending drags for second month in a row
Consumer spending has dropped by 0.7% in November, the second month of decline following the 0.2% drop in October according to Visa’s UK Consumer Spending Index. Expenditure also struggled to maintain growth momentum in 2018 to date, with spending falling in seven of the 11 months of the year so…
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