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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Feb- 2020 -26 February
McColl’s profits down amid ‘softer market’ conditions
Convenience retailer McColl’s has reported a 1.8% decrease in revenues to £1.22bn, attributing store closures and “softer” market conditions to its loss. In its preliminary audited results and trading update for the year ended 24 November 2019 and its trading update for the 11 weeks to 9 February 2020, the…
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25 February
Hotel Chocolat revenues soar in half-year results
British chocolatier Hotel Chocolat has reported a 14% increase in revenues to £91.7m for the half-year period ended 29 December 2019. The retailer said the strong sales growth reflected “continued brand appeal and ongoing product innovation”. It also opened nine new stores in the UK, bringing its portfolio to 125…
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21 February
Phillip Day’s Peacocks acquires Bonmarché
Embattled high street retailer Bonmarché has been sold to Peacocks, part of Phillip Day’s Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group (EWM). According to Drapers, Peacocks has acquired around 200 stores and is in talks with landlords or whether it can acquire the remaining sites. Bonmarché has a store count of around 270.…
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20 February
Retail footfall buffeted by stormy weather in February
Storm Ciara, which hit the UK the weekend of 8 February 2020, saw UK retail footfall plummet by 15.3%. According to the latest figures from Ipsos Retail Performance, the most affected region was the north west of England, with footfall down 18.3% on the same period last year. Storm Dennis,…
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20 February
Laura Ashley reports ‘disappointing’ £4m loss
Fashion retailer Laura Ashley has reported losses before tax of £4m for the half-year period ended 31 December 2019. The retailer attributed the “dissapointing” loss to lower sales in home furnishings and “Brexit uncertainty”, and said revenue disruption was also caused by changes with its Japanese franchise partner. The retailer…
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19 February
Beales to shutter 11 remaining stores
The administrators of Beales have announced the plans to close the department store chain’s remaining 11 stores and associated stock liquidation. The company entered administration in January, and joint administrators Will Wright and Steve Absolom from KPMG, said no “deliverable offers have been received for the business to date”. In…
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19 February
Sports Direct ‘partially allowed’ to withhold private documents from FRC
The Court of Appeal has ruled to partially allow Sports Direct’s appeal to overturn a High Court ruling from 2018 which ordered it to submit 40 company documents to the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). It comes after the FRC attempted to gain access to the documents in relation to its…
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17 February
M&S warns landlords it may close loss-making stores
Marks and Spencer has reportedly warned landlords that it will shutter loss-making stores, in a move that may see the department store close more sites than the previously announced. According to the Sunday Times, the warning came at a dinner hosted by M&S chairman Archie Norman and chief executive Steve…
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17 February
West country vacancy rates hits double-digits in 2020
The west country has seen the largest increase in retail vacancy rates in the UK, rising from 9.6% in 2016 to 11.2% in 2020, according to new data from Usdaw. The trade union said in the past decade the number of people visiting high streets in the west country dropped…
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14 February
M&S to shutter two distribution centres putting almost 700 jobs at risk
Marks and Spencer has announced plans to shutter two of its distribution centres in spring 2021, putting nearly 700 jobs at risk. The affected sites are the Thorncliffe and Long Eaton distribution centres, which are operated by XPO and DHL respectively, and each employed around 330 staff. It comes amid…
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