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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May- 2019 -13 May
Shop vacancy rate rises to highest level in four years
The national town centre vacancy rate rose to 10.2% empty outlets, according to data from the BRC-Springboard Footfall and Vacancies Monitor. This is an increase on the previous quarter’s 9.9% rise and the highest vacancy rate seen since April 2015. In the four weeks from 31 March to 27 April,…
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10 May
Select officially enters administration
Embattled retailer Select has officially entered administration, placing 1,800 jobs at risk. Business advisory firm Quantuma has been appointed as administrators of Genus UK Ltd, trading as Select. Select, which operates from 169 stores across the UK, was muted to fall into administration earlier this week and has now confirmed…
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9 May
Third of consumers feel ‘unvalued’ by retailers after purchasing
Over a third (34%) of consumers feel retailers don’t care about them after they’ve made a payment, a new report by Valitor has found. The report from the international payment solutions company, found that retailers are “failing customers” when it comes to the after payment experience. This is because shoppers…
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9 May
Superdry issues profit warning as trading ‘continues to be weak’
Superdry has said its “trading performance continues to be weak” as the clothing retailer issued another profit warning in its trading update for the 13-week period to 27 April 2019. Its wholesale and e-commerce revenues performed the worst in Q4 with declines of 9.3% and 3.9% respectively. Year-on-year wholesale revenue…
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8 May
Wee Carpet Shoppe ad goes viral
A homemade advert starring a four-year-old girl promoting her grandad’s carpet store, the Wee Carpet Shoppe in Fife, Scotland, has gone viral online. The video gained almost 35,000 views on Facebook in a few short days, and was created without the shop owner John Tallack’s knowledge. The advert, directed by…
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7 May
New Look reduces debts by £1bn
Fashion retailer New Look has announced it has reduced existing long term debt by £1bn to £350m, as part of its comprehensive financial restructuring. Furthermore, the restructure delivered £150m of new long term capital in the form of new Senior Secured Notes (SSN), which has been used to repay the…
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3 May
Sports Direct facing probe from financial regulators
Sports Direct is facing scrutiny from two financial regulators over its accounts and information relating to a possible bid for Debenhams. According to The Times, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is looking into the retailer regarding the disclosure of information in relation to its bid for the department store. Questions…
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Apr- 2019 -29 April
Arcadia secures help from HSBC
Arcadia, which is owned by Phillip Green, has secured help from HSBC in order to reassure suppliers as the retailer seeks out a rescue deal. According to a report by The Times, HSBC agreed to stand behind Arcadia’s debts to suppliers, which have asked for advance payments since credit insurers…
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29 April
Retail rents fall as pressure on sector continues
High street shop prime rents fell by 1% in the first quarter of the year, according to real estate company CBRE’s latest Prime Rent and Yield Monitor. This indicated an acceleration of the falls reported in Q3 (0.4%) and Q4 (0.4%) of 2018. Shopping centre prime rents fell 1.3% over…
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24 April
Majestic Wine could sell all UK stores as it moves online
Specialist wine retailer Majestic Wine could sell all 200 of its UK stores as the business prepares to move its operations online under the Naked Wines brand. The company has reportedly appointed investment bank Rothschild and Co to discuss options on a potential sale. Last month, the company announced its…
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