High Street
The latest news, updates and analysis on the the British High Street and 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- 2020 -21 July
Co-op outlines plans on face coverings
Central England Co-op has outlined plans for its staff to begin to wear face coverings early to promote their use ahead of them becoming compulsory for customers on Friday (24 July). Central England Co-op, which has over 400 food stores and funeral homes across 16 counties, is asking customers to…
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20 July
M&S to cut 950 jobs
Marks and Spencer (M&S) has announced it will cut 950 jobs in a bid to restructure its business in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis. The high street retailer announced it plans to “accelerate the pace and scale” in a statement released today (20 July), adding that it aimed to…
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20 July
Ted Baker set to axe 500 jobs
Fashion retailer Ted Baker is reportedly set to axe almost 500 head office and retail jobs. According to the Sunday Times, some 200 jobs will be cut at its London headquarters, the Ugly Brown Building, with the remaining 300 roles being slashed across its 46 stores and concessions. The move…
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9 July
Boots set to slash 4,000 jobs
Boots is reportedly set to slash almost 4,000 roles as it seeks to restructure its head office and store teams. The company said it is “moving swiftly” to address the impact of Covid-19 on the Boots business by accelerating its transformation plan. The proposed plan included a reorganisation of the…
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7 July
Halfords cycling sales soar during lockdown
Halfords has reported a surge in sales for cycling related products and services during the Covid-19 lockdown in its preliminary results for the year ended 3 April 2020. The retailer’s cycling business was up 57.1% on a life-for-like basis, which Halfrods said was “significantly boosted” by the avoidance of public…
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7 July
Usdaw urges chancellor to announce retail recovery plan
Retail trade union Usdaw is calling on the chancellor to announce in Wednesday’s (8 June) economic statement an “urgent recovery plan” for the “struggling retail industry”, which is developed with trade unions and retail employers. Some of the factors, Usdaw is urging the government to cover fundamental business rates, an…
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6 July
Over 24,000 retail jobs lost in first half of 2020
Almost 24,348 jobs have been scrapped in the first six months of the year at large retailers which have fallen into administration, the Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has revealed. Retailers including Laura Ashley, Debenhams, Monsoon & Accessorize, Oasis & Warehouse, Cath Kidston, Quiz, Victoria’s Secret, Oakland Furniture, Go Outdoors,…
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2 July
Casual Dining Group falls into administration
The owner of Bella Italia and Café Rouge, Casual Dining Group, has fallen into administration. According to a report by the BBC, almost 1,900 of the group’s 6,000 strong workforce have been made redundant, with 91 sites closing their doors for good. The BBC said AlixPartners, the appointed administrators, will…
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2 July
High street retailers ‘urgently’ need government recovery plan, says Usdaw
Shopworkers union Usdaw has urged the government to agree with employers and trade unions a recovery plan for the high street as “thousands of further job losses are announced”. The union said the scale of job losses across the retail industry is “accelerating” as the high street continues to struggle…
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1 July
Harveys collapses into administration as Bensons saved
Furniture retailer Harveys has collapsed into administration after the retailer’s parent company, Blue Group, called in PwC to financially restructure the business. Bensons for Beds, which is also owned by Blue Group, has been saved from the same fate after it was acquired by Blue Group owner Alteri Investors in…
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