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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Jan- 2020 -15 January
Moody’s downgrades M&S credit score to negative
Moody’s has downgraded Marks and Spencer’s outlook from stable to negative after it reported a 0.7% decline in revenues in its third quarter of the current financial year to £3bn. In referencing the decision Moody’s said that the “continued decline” in Marks and Spencer’s clothing and home like-for-like sales, which…
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14 January
Games Workshop profits soar in half-year results
Games Workshop has reported a 44% increase in profits before tax to £58.6m for the six months ended 1 December 2019. This was fueled by a 27% increase in its trade operations, with “growth in all key countries”. During the period the number of trade outlets increased by c.200 accounts,…
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14 January
DFS profits to meet expectations despite ‘challenging’ trading
Furniture retailer DFS has said it expects full-year profits to be “broadly in line” with market expectations of £50m-£53.6m, despite a “challenging” trading period which saw half-year sales decline. For the 26-week period to 29 December 2019, DFS revealed that gross sales decreased by 6% compared with the “comparatively strong”…
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13 January
December footfall hit by Black Friday
Footfall dropped 2.5% in December, according to the latest figures from Springboard’s footfall monitor and insights. The data provider said this came as “no surprise”, as December footfall has only increased once since 2009. Despite this, the fall was at the “upper end of the scale of decline”. The “noticeable”…
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10 January
Game to shutter 40 UK stores
Video game retailer Game has confirmed it intends to shutter 40 stores throughout the UK. To date, 13 sites have had notice served including existing Game sites in Mansfield, Canterbury, Watford, Glasgow Fort and Leicester. On 8 January notice was served on a further 14 sites impacting outlets owned mostly…
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10 January
B&M reports ‘slower performance than anticipated’ in its third quarter
B&M has reported a “slower performance than anticipated”, despite a 9.3% increase in group revenues during its third quarter. Over the 13 weeks to 28 December, revenues across its UK stores increased by 8.8% including like-for-like growth of 0.3% for the quarter, against the “backdrop of a challenging broader retail…
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9 January
M&S reports fall in festive sales revenues
Marks and Spencer has reported a 0.7% decline in revenues in its third quarter of the current financial year to £3bn , attributed to underperformance in clothing and home sales. For the 13 week period ending 28 December, the retailer reported a 3.7% fall in clothing and home sales to…
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9 January
‘Worst year on record’ for retail, says BRC
Total retail sales decreased by 0.1% in 2019, compared with the 1.2% increase recorded in 2018, making it the “worst year on record” for retail according to the BRC. Helen Dickinson, CEO of the BRC, said this was reflected in the CVAs, shop closures and job losses that the industry…
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8 January
Topps Tiles sales slump in first-quarter results
Topps Tiles has reported a 5.4% decrease in like-for-like retail revenues for the first 13 week period ended 28 December 2019. Revenues across the first eight weeks of the quarter decreased by 7.2%, however, during the final five weeks of the period the retailer said performance improved “significantly”, with the…
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8 January
Greggs to give workers £7m bonus after ‘phenomenal’ year
Total sales at Greggs increased by 13.5% in its full year results, amid a “phenomenal” year of “strong sales”. Company-managed shops saw like-for-like sales increase by 9.2% for the year ended 28 December 2019, while quarterly like-for-like sales increased by 8.7%. The bakery chain now expects its full year underlying…
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