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- 2019 -12 February
West End retailers face £45m rates hike in April
Retailers located in London’s West End are set to face a £45m rates tax increase in April, according to a report by real estate advisor Altus Group. Business rates help announced at the Autumn Budget last year, which promised to slash bills by a third for high street business in…
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12 February
Debenhams secures £40m cash injection
Debenhams has received a £40m cash injection from lenders in order to buy it more time as it looks to secure a longer term investment deal. The new investment allows the retailer to extend its current £520m borrowing facilities with banks for another 12 months, meaning it will be able…
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11 February
High street vacancies on the rise, retail data shows
The national town centre vacancy rate was 9.9% in January 2019, up from 8.9% a year earlier This is according to the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Springboard that also found retail footfall dropped a further 0.7% in January – although this was a lesser decline…
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11 February
18,722 retail jobs lost or at risk since Christmas day
Some 18,722 retail staff, 400 every single day, have either been made redundant or have had their jobs threatened since Christmas day, according to new data from real estate data service Altus. Oddbins, Patisserie Valerie, Greenwoods, Chapelle, tReds and HMV have all entered administration, with the music and film retailer…
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8 February
61% of Brits worried high street will disappear in 10 years
Consumers are worried the high street is going to be lost completely due to the current store closures in the news, research by commercial brokers KIS Finance has revealed. A survey of 1,000 consumers in the UK, found 61% of Brits are worried the high street will disappear in the…
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7 February
Superdry reports ‘subdued’ store and online sales
Superdry has reported that store and online sales over the 13 week period ending 26 January were “subdued”. The Japanese-inspired fashion retailer said revenues for the period reached £269m, a drop of 1.5% compared with the same time last year. Superdry attributed the decrease to “ongoing legacy product issues and…
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6 February
Currys PC World scolded by ASA over 10% off sale
Currys PC World has been reprimanded by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over a “10% off marked price” sale, which “misleadingly” suggested “a genuine saving was available” according to the regulator. A complainant told the ASA that they understood that the Samsung Family Hub American-Style Smart Fridge Freezer had been…
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6 February
Brighthouse to close 30 stores
Rent-to-own retailer BrightHouse has announced it is to close 30 stores putting up to 350 jobs at risk. The news of the company plans to close 10% of its portfolio over the next two months comes after it reported a pre-tax loss of £22.1m from £19.9m in the same period…
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6 February
Poundland sells 20,000 engagement rings in a week
Discount retailer, Poundland has announced it has sold 20,000 of its £1 engagement rings within a week of going on sale. Poundland’s Bling Ring range made headline news upon its release and has been marketed as a “placeholder” ring, with the words “because we promise they’ll want to choose their…
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5 February
Carpetright CFO to step down as sales fall
Carpetright has reported its like-for-like sales “remained negative” during the 13 week period ending 26 January and also revealed its CFO is to leave the company. In the trading update Carpetright said that “as anticipated” its UK like-for-like sales remained negative for the period, although the trend improved from that…
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