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 -21 February
Laura Ashley issues fresh profit warning amid sales slump
Fashion and homeware retailer Laura Ashley has said its performance for the 2018 will “fall short of market expectations”, after posting an 8.7% sales slump for the 26 weeks to 31 December. The group announced that it broke-even in profit before tax and exceptional items for the last six months…
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21 February
MPs call for business rates reform to save high street
The housing, communities and local government committee has said “dated policies” and an “unfair tax regime” needed reforming to allow high streets and town centres to flourish in its report into the future of the UK high street. The report highlighted the disparity between taxes paid by bricks-and-mortar retailers and…
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20 February
F Hinds to save Chapelle stores
Family owned retailer F Hinds, which has 116 stores across England & Wales, has reached an agreement to take on 12 Chapelle stores in top outlet centres. Chapelle was founded in 1979 by Paul and Margaret Mortimer as a retail business that offered discounted watches and jewellery. It trades in…
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18 February
Philip Day eyes M&S and House of Fraser stores
Retail entrepreneur and Edinburgh Wooden Mill boss Philip Day is reportedly in talks to acquire a small number of Marks and Spencer and House of Fraser stores that are set to close. According to the Sunday Telegraph, Day is aiming to turn the stores into branches of his Days department…
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18 February
McColls profits halve due to ‘supply chain disruption’
Convenience retailer McColls profits before tax dropped from £18.4m to £7.9m in the 52 weeks to 25 November 2018, impacted by the administration of wholesaler Palmer and Harvey. The wholesaler worked with 90,000 retailers in the UK before it collapsed in November 2017 with debts of £65m. McColls’ total revenue…
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14 February
Mike Ashley’s business profits tumble
Profits at the holding company that contains Mike Ashley’s business empire plummeted in 2017, attributed to the fall in value of the pound and the poor performance at Newcastle United. Accounts filed at Companies House for the financial year ending April 2017 revealed profits at Mash Holdings fell from £227.7m…
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13 February
Dunelm profits and sales jump as it reveals Brexit stockpiling
Furniture and homewares retailer Dunelm has seen its profits and sales jump it its latest half-year results, as it also revealed it is stockpiling ahead of Brexit. Dunelm’s profit before tax grew 16.7% to £70m while like-for-like revenue rose 6.9% to £506m for the six months to the end of…
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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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