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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May- 2018 -14 May
Northern Ireland suffers most from UK retail struggles
Northern Ireland is suffering the worst of retail’s bad weather, showing a 7.3% drop in footfall and a retail space vacancy rate of 14.2%, 5% higher than the UK average. The figures from statistics and research firm, Springboard, show the country reporting its worst retail performance since 2015. The decline…
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4 May
43,000 retailers in ‘financial distress’
Nearly 43,000 retailers ended the first quarter of the year in a state of ‘significant’ financial distress, according to research from insolvency firm Begbies Traynor. Its ‘Red Flag Alert’ research for Q1 2018, which monitors the financial health of UK companies, found the number of firms in the category was…
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2 May
Fall in shop prices marks fifth year of deflation
Shop prices fell by 1% in April marking the fifth year of deflation for retail prices. According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Nielsen’s monthly Shop Price Index’s, this also represented the deepest period of deflation since last February. This drop fell in line with the pace of decline…
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Apr- 2018 -30 April
Consumer confidence drops further in April
UK consumer confidence has dropped even further in the month of April, according to market research institute GFK. The institute’s Consumer Confidence Index dropped by two points to -9 in April, the 28th consecutive month without an overall positive index score. Four out of the five index measures decreased, with…
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27 April
Retail sales expected to be ‘a little healthier’ next month
Retail sales are expected to pick up in May, according to the Distributive Trades Survey by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). The survey of 100 firms showed that, in the year to April, retail sales volumes were broadly unchanged. Sales were below average for the time of year for…
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26 April
Number of retail jobs falls in first quarter
The number of full time jobs in UK retail has fallen by 2.5% compared with the same time last year, data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) shows. The number of hours worked was also down, with a 3.2% year-on-year decline. The trade body attributed this to the “structural change”…
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25 April
Increase in retailers using secondary revenue to boost profits
More retailers are making use of secondary revenue to increase sales outside of core offerings, online marketing company Webloyalty’s ‘Beyond the Core II’ report suggests. According to the report, there has been an increase of retailers working with third parties on secondary revenue – up from 23% to 36% this…
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16 April
High street collapse down to higher business rates, says Colliers
Fifteen major retailers or restaurant groups have gone into CVA or administration in the twelve months since the April 2017 Business Rates Revaluation, according to Colliers International, the global commercial real estate agency and consultancy. Ten of those have happened since the beginning of this year – in the last…
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6 April
UK retail sees second worst month on record for in-store sales
Like-for-like (LFL) in-store sales were down by 10.1% in the month of March, making it the second worst figures on record for UK retail. BDO’s High Street Sales Tracker report said the poor sales was largely attributed to the snowy weather. According to the business advisory firm’s records, the only…
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3 April
21,000 retail jobs lost or threatened so far this year
Over 21,000 jobs have been axed or put at risk in the first three months of the year as retailers struggle to break even. A Press Association analysis revealed that 21,413 staff members have already been made redundant or had their role threatened, with the majority being from large high-street…
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