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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Sep- 2019 -26 September
Ikea retail sales jump 5% in full-year results
Furniture retailer Ikea has reported a 5% increase in retail sales to €36.7bn (£32.5bn) for the year ended 31 August 2019. Its parent company, the Ingka Group, said this follows a number of investments during the year, including the launch of new Ikea stores in cities, strengthening its home delivery…
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25 September
Hotel Chocolat beats high street woes with strong revenue growth in 2019
British chocolatier Hotel Chocolat has reported a 14% increase in revenues to £132.5m for the year ending 30 June 2019. Profit before tax grew by 11% to £14.1m during the period, and the group results included £0.5m of sales and £1.2m of losses relating to new investments in locations in…
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24 September
Sports Direct announces five more Jack Wills closures
Sports Direct has revealed the locations of a further five Jack Wills stores set to close, following its acquisition of the clothing retailer. Sports Direct has earmarked its Bluewater, Oxford, Newcastle, Winchester and London Gatwick airport as the next stores to shutter. The company, which closed eight Jack Wills stores…
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24 September
Moss Bros H1 sales dragged down by hire business
Menswear retailer Moss Bros has posted a marginal 1.4% increase in total group revenue to £65.4m for the 26 weeks ended 27 July 2019. Sales were dragged by the retailer’s hire business, which fell by 14.7% on a like-for-like basis and represented only 10.7% of total sales in the half,…
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23 September
Bailiffs visit 310 premises a day over business rates, study finds
Councils across England are sending bailiffs to 310 companies a day over business rates arrears, new figures show. The investigation by the real estate adviser Altus Group revealed that, during the last financial year, for 2018/19, over 78,000 non-domestic properties from shops to restaurants to pubs to factories to offices…
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23 September
Thomas Cook shutters 600 retail stores amid company collapse
British tour operator Thomas Cook has announced that all of the companies in its group, including Thomas Cook Airlines, have ceased trading, leaving over 21,000 staff out of work. As a result, all 600 of Thomas Cook’s retail shops have now closed, and comes after the company was denied a…
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20 September
Eve Sleep issues profit warning as Simba merger talks end
Mattress retailer Eve Sleep has issued a profit warning, after merger talks with Simba Sleep, first announced on 12 August, have collapsed. The group’s board said it decided that now is “not the right time to pursue the potential merger” and that it was more appropriate to focus on its…
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20 September
High Court rejects legal challenge against Debenhams CVA
The High Court has rejected the legal challenge against Debenhams proposed CVA, which was funded by Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct. The challenge was made by the Combined Property Control Group (CPC) – the landlord of six Debenhams stores in England as it argued the CVA was “designed to create a…
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19 September
Next profits boosted by continued online growth in H1
Fashion retailer Next has recorded a 2.7% rise in profits for the 26 weeks to July 2019, aided by a 12.6% increase in online sales. Pre-tax profits for the first half of the year were £319.6m compared with £311.1m for the same period last year. Total brand sales also increased…
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19 September
CMA extends inquiry into JD Sports’ acquisition of Footasylum
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has extended its inquiry into JD Sports’ acquisition of Footasylum, with the regulator warning it could lead to a “worse deal for customers”. The CMA report noted concerns that the loss of competition brought about by the merger could result in “higher prices, worse…
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