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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Nov- 2018 -12 November
Footfall drops for 11th consecutive month
Footfall in October fell by 2% on the previous year, an identical fall to that recorded in October 2017 and a deeper decline than September 2018 when footfall fell by 1.7%. According to the Springboard retail footfall figures, October also marked the 11th month of consecutive footfall decline. However, analysts…
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9 November
Half of British small retailers ‘love’ their job
Half of small UK retailers said that they “love” their job according to new research, the highest out of nine other sectors polled and four times higher than the national average of 12%. The research by Yougov accessed a sample of over 1,000 senior managers in the retail sector, working…
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9 November
October footfall ‘wobble’ sparks fresh concern for UK high street
October saw a 7.4% drop in UK store visits, the biggest year-on-year drop since July, while average weekly footfall was down 2.9% compared with September. According to Ipsos Retail Performance’s latest Retail Traffic Index (RTI) the areas with the highest decline in store visits were south west England and Wales,…
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9 November
Gap between retail closures and openings continue to widen, says PwC
A combination of growth in online shopping, shift to in-home leisure, heightened restructuring activity and ongoing digitisation of services has seen the half-year net reduction in stores on Britain’s high streets reach record levels, according to PwC. According to research compiled for PwC by the Local Data Company (LDC) a…
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6 November
Pandora reduces FY expectations amid ‘unsatisfactory Q3’
Pandora has reduced its full-year expectations after experiencing an “unsatisfactory” third quarter in 2018. In Q3 group revenue decreased 3% in local currency due to “timing of shipments, change of inventory levels in the wholesale channel and negative total like-for-like”. Revenue from its estore increased 52% in local currency, up…
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6 November
Marks and Spencer half-year profits expected to drop
M&S is expected to report a double-digit drop in its half-year profits next week, according to predictions by City analysts. The retailer is set to post a fall in underlying pre-tax profits by 14% to £188m. Its pre-tax profits for the first half of the year are set to be…
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2 November
RSPH names Grimsby as ‘unhealthiest UK high street’
The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) has named Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, as the ‘unhealthiest UK high street’. The announcement came after a league table published by the group ranked 70 of Britain’s major towns and cities by the impact of their high streets on the public’s health and…
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2 November
WHSmith fined £337,500 after customer falls through trapdoor
Newsagent chain WHSmith has been fined £337,500 after a customer fell almost three metres through a trapdoor, suffering serious injuries. WHSmith pleaded guilty to health and safety breaches leading to the fine, after the trapdoor at its Taunton store, located in the greetings card isle, was left open. The retailer…
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1 November
Pets at Home appoints former Argos boss as COO
Pets at Home has appointed David Robinson as COO of retail and Jane Balmain as interim CEO of the Vet Group’s First Opinion business. Robinson has held senior roles at Homebase, Sainsbury’s and Dixons Retail and spent almost 15 years with the Home Retail Group, most recently as COO for…
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1 November
Mothercare culls 200 head office jobs
Mothercare has axed around 200 staff from its head office in an attempt to cut costs and save up to £20m. The job cuts are part of Mothercare’s restructuring program and 50 new jobs are expected to be created in the department, bringing the net job losses to roughly 150.…
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