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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Mar- 2019 -14 March
DFS revenues jump 29.1% in H1 results
Furniture retailer DFS has reported a 29.1% increase in group revenue to £422.3m for the 22 weeks ending 30 December 2018. Reported profit before tax more than doubled to £14.1m during the period from £6.2m last year, and underlying pro-forma EBITDA increased by 23.8% to £32.8m. The retailer also opened…
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11 March
Feb footfall signals 15th month of decline
Footfall fell by 2% in February, a significant decline compared with the previous year, when it fell by 0.2%, and marks the fifteenth consecutive month of decline. According to the BRC’s figures it was also the weakest February in five years. High street footfall was found to have declined by 1.9%, marking seven consecutive months of weakening…
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8 March
Mike Ashley moves to take control of Debenhams
Mike Ashley has announced plans to remove all the directors at Debenhams, except Rachel Osborne who was appointed in September, and appoint himself to the board in an executive role. Ashley, who holds a 30% stake in the department store chain, pledged in a stock exchange announcement on Thursday evening…
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6 March
Findel rejects Sports Direct’s takeover bid
Findel’s board of directors has unanimously rejected Sports Direct’s £139m bid it has, saying the offer “significantly undervalues” the company. The news comes after the company agreed to buy shares in Findel worth £9.7m, taking its stake in the Accrington-based business from 29.9% to 36.8%. Under takeover rules any investor…
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5 March
February retail growth hit by ‘Brexit uncertainty’
February retail growth was hit by “Brexit uncertainty” according to the BRC as on a total basis, sales increased by 0.5% in the month, a slowdown when compared with 1.6% in February 2018. This was found to be below both the three-month and 12-month averages of 0.9% and 1.2% respectively.…
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1 March
Business rates appeals drop under ‘complicated’ system
Businesses are struggling with the new ‘check challenge appeal’ (CCA) business rates appeals system, according to rating experts at Colliers International, commercial real estate agency and consultancy. New figures released by the government show that in the 21 months between 1 April 2017, when the new system for appealing against…
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Feb- 2019 -28 February
Shop workers face highest risk of redundancy, report finds
Retail workers are more likely to be made redundant and face a longer duration of unemployment compared with employees in other sectors, a new report has found. The report – ‘Sorry, we’re closed’ – by the think tank the Resolution Foundation found the retail sector’s falling employment share is a…
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26 February
Angling Direct acquires Chapmans Angling for £1.4m
Angling Direct, the specialist fishing tackle and equipment retailer, has acquired fishing tackle retailer Chapmans Angling for £1.4m payable in cash and includes stock at Valuation. Chapmans Angling, which has two stores in Scunthorpe and Hull, generated revenues of over £3m and profit before tax of £43,000 last year. Angling Direct…
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25 February
Jack Wills to sell four stores in order to cut costs
Fashion retailer, Jack Wills is to sell four stores in order to make up for a store expansion which saw it increase its stores by a quarter, despite the fact it was making an underlying loss of £11m in 2017. Jack Wills is looking to assign leases to new tenants…
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22 February
January posts lowest footfall decline in three years
January footfall declined 0.8% according to the latest data from Ipsos Retail Performance – the lowest decline in three years. Ipsos said the figures indicate that Britain’s shoppers “are getting on with the certainties of everyday living” despite the uncertainties of Brexit.Further figures showed that year-on-year deficits over three…
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