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- 2018 -12 January
B&M reports sales increase of 22%
Discount retailer B&M has reported an increase in total sales of 22.7% on a constant currency basis, which were boosted by record Christmas trading. On an actual currency basis, total sales climbed by 22.9% to £969.8 million. UK sales revenue for the B&M store estate in the 13-week period…
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11 January
Train station Christmas shopping brings 9% sales growth
Figures released by Network Rail show total train station retail sales for the festive period grew by 9% this year. The figures, which span 18 November to 23 December, suggested a growing desire for convenience retail, Network Rail said. Station retailers saw a total of over £110m in sales during…
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10 January
‘Serious concerns’ over CFD retail investment tool
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said it has ‘serious concerns’ over the way CFDs (contracts for difference) are sold to retail investors. The speculative tool has become popular with investors despite roughly 76% of users losing money through it in 2016. CFDs are being marketed as an alternative to…
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9 January
Retail administrations increase in five-year-first
The number of retailers entering administration increased from 92 in 2016 to 118 in 2017, an increase of 28 percent, according to new analysis from Deloitte. This is the first increase in the last five years, as those administrations with more than ten stores rose from 11 in 2016 to…
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9 January
UK retail sales show marginal growth over Christmas
UK retail sales showed less growth over Christmas than they did last year, according to figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC). Retail sales increased by 0.6% on a like-for-like basis from December 2016, which was a decline compared to an increase of 1.0% from the preceding year. Over the…
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5 January
Christmas discounts push shop price deflation to 9-month high
Shop prices in December fell at their fastest rate for nine months, having previously been “teetering on the edge of inflation,” according to new figures. The latest British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Nielsen Shop Price Index showed overall shop prices dropped 0.6% cent in December compared with the same month…
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3 January
Retail entertainment reaches ‘all-time-high’ in 2017
The size of the UK’s retail entertainment market reached an all-time high of £7.24bn in 2017 driven mainly by digital streaming services, according to new data. In figures compiled by the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA), the market segment saw combined sales growth of 8.8% across music, video and games, compared…
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2 January
Festive footfall disappoints despite increase on New Years Day
Footfall dropped by -10.5% on New Year’s Eve compared with the previous year, according to new retail footfall data. Springboard, a provider of automated footfall monitoring services, reported footfall dropped significantly and unexpectedly on New Year’s Eve across the UK, declining by -10.5% over the 24 hours and by -7.2%…
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Nov- 2017 -21 November
Online retail growth lower than average in pre-Black Friday lull
Despite showing a year-on-year growth of 12.6%, online retail sales figures in October were lower than average suggesting a pre-Black Friday lull. According to the latest figures from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index, this was lower than both the average YoY growth rate of 14.3% for the last 3…
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20 November
Retail bosses call on Chancellor for ‘shoppers’ budget’
Leading CEOs from across British retail are today backing Phillip Hammond, the Chancellor, to deliver a “shoppers’ Budget” including decisive action in his upcoming Budget to relieve the business rates burden. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) says that without action in the Budget on Wednesday (22 Nov), retailers alone face…
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