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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Dec- 2018 -10 December
Welsh high street retailers to get £2,500 each in business rate cuts
The Welsh government has announced it is to give retailers £2,500 each in business rate cuts. Finance secretary, Mark Drakeford has announced a £23.6m investment to enhance and extend the government’s high street rates relief scheme until 2020. Around 15,000 businesses are expected to receive the enhanced support from April…
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10 December
Footfall struggles to keep up in November
Footfall in November fell by 3.2%, a significant decline on the previous year when it grew by 0.2%, according to new figures from Springboard. According to the research, it is the twelfth month of consecutive decline, and the group added that the numbers illustrate the ‘Black Friday’ effect of driving…
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10 December
Mike Ashley’s Flannels given £125k rates relief despite £65m turnover
Mike Ashley’s high end fashion chain Flannels has been handed £125,000 in business rates “help” by a local council amid fears that a former pub and nightclub it bought back in 2016 would be left derelict. Doncaster Council agreed the funding to Flannels’ over a “derelict” site at Priory Walk,…
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7 December
Primark owner warns ‘trading was challenging’ for November
Primark owner, Associated British Foods has warned that trading for November was “challenging” for the clothing retailer. The group’s chairman, Michael McLintock, will say at its AGM today that a “tough retail market” was to blame for a challenging month. Trading was “in line with expectations” for the first eight…
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6 December
Ted Baker launches investigation into CEO ‘hugging’ allegations
Fashion retailer Ted Baker has launched an investigation into harassment allegations against its founder and CEO Ray Kelvin, after reports claimed he hugged workers and kissed their necks and ears. The group has appointed independent law firm Herbert Smith Freehills to conduct an independent external investigation into the reports it…
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6 December
UK customers to boost retailers with £420 festive spend
New Christmas trading analysis from PwC has suggested UK shoppers are preparing to spend an average of £420 on Christmas presents this year. Those in the 35-44 year age bracket are expected to shell out the most with a £522 spend, and shoppers in Scotland will have the highest average…
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6 December
Clas Ohlson to close all UK stores axing 150 jobs
Home retailer, Clas Ohlson has announced it is to close all UK stores as it looks to focus on operations in Sweden and Denmark. The retailer has also closed four pilot stores in Germany after it found that “the operations will be unable to deliver on plan and therefore the…
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5 December
Joules reveals ‘contingency plan’ for a hard Brexit amid strong H1 results
Fashion retailer Joules’ group revenue has increased by 17.6% to £113.1m for the first half 2019 financial year, covering the 26-week period to 25 November 2018. However, the retailer’s executive board anticipates that trading conditions in the UK “will remain challenging over the near term”, with continued “macroeconomic uncertainty, rapidly…
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5 December
Government clarifies details of new business rates relief
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has published guidance on the details of how business rates discounts first announced in this year’s Budget will be allocated. During the Budget on 29 October, chancellor Philip Hammond announced that businesses with a rateable value of under £51,000 would receive…
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4 December
‘Tax the internet for the good of the high street’, Mike Ashley tells MPs
Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley has said online businesses should be taxed 20% in as soon as six months to save the majority of high street retailers and avoid closures. Ashley appeared in front of MPs at the House of Commons yesterday (3 December) after demanding to meet them in…
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