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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Jul- 2018 -16 July
The Works to open 50 stores per year and plans to IPO
Discount retailer The Works has unveiled plans to float on the London Stock Exchange and open 50 new stores each year, as it defies falling high street footfall. The Works is planning a £100m listing on the stock market which will give management and shareholders a £36.7m payout. Along with…
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13 July
Bumper June footfall sees record increase of 11.4%
UK retailers benefited from record month-on-month growth in footfall for June, with a 11.4% increase in high street traffic compared with May. Compared with the same period last year, footfall was 7.8% lower, but June did deliver a reduction in the year-on-year deficit for the fourth successive month, data from…
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12 July
Long queues ‘costing retailers £12bn’
Long queues have been named the biggest turn-off for UK shoppers and could be costing retailers up to £12bn a year in potential sales losses. According to research released by payments platform Adyen, paired with 451 Research’s ‘Global Unified Commerce Forecast’, British retailers are struggling to keep up with increasing…
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12 July
Hot weather springs profit warning at DFS
DFS has announced a profit warning, blaming poor sales performance on decreased high street footfall during the hot weather, disruption to supply chains, and “lower than expected order intake”. The furniture retailer said it expects EBITDA for the full financial year to be down on last year’s total of £82.4m,…
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10 July
Poundland founder prepares Poundworld bid after Chris Edwards pulls out
The founder of Poundland, Steve Smith, is preparing a bid for embattled rival Poundworld after Chris Edwards, the latter’s founder, withdrew his bid for the company. A Press Association release said Smith was in early-stage talks with Deloitte, however the administrators declined to comment when contacted by Retail Sector. Smith…
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9 July
200,000 companies sued over business rates
Over 200,000 businesses were taken to a Magistrates court for failing to pay for businesses rates under the first year of the new business rates revaluation, an investigation has revealed. Real estate advisor Altus Group collated information procured under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) from all councils in England. They were…
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6 July
UK Treasury rejects retailers’ business rates reform calls
The UK Treasury has today rejected calls from retailers who say business rates should be reformed to create a level playing field with online retailers. During a meeting of parliament’s Treasury Select Committee, chancellor Philip Hammond said reforming international corporation tax was a higher priority for the government, adding that…
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6 July
Retail sales fall for fifth consecutive month
Retail sales fell for the fifth month in a row in June, data from BDO’s High Street Sales Tracker has shown. Total in-store like-for-like sales were down 1.7% compared with last year, when the figures rose 1.3%. It is also the ninth consecutive month that sales growth figures have failed…
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5 July
England/Colombia World Cup win scores UK a £1.3bn economy boost
England’s penalty shootout victory against Colombia has given the UK economy a £1.33bn boost according to new figures. The figures from the Centre for Retail Research (CRR) show that the UK will benefit from a £2.72bn boost if England make the final. It is thought that the majority of the…
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4 July
BRC calls for two-year freeze on business rates
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has asked the government to consider freezing business rates for two years to ease the pressure on retailers. By proposing a two-year freeze on increases, the BRC said it would give time for the government and industry to develop a proposal for an updated taxation…
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