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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Jul- 2018 -16 July
Footfall dips for seventh consecutive month despite World Cup boost
Retail footfall dipped for a seventh consecutive month in June, despite the boost in spending brought on by the World Cup. BRC’s Footfall Springboard and Vacancies Monitor reported that year-on-year footfall for the month dropped by 0.9% The high street was the only area that delivered footfall growth, albeit marginally,…
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13 July
Poundworld to shutter a further 80 stores
The administrators of Poundworld, Deloitte, have announced a further 80 store closures, in addition to the closure of 25 stores announced on 10 July 2018. The shuttering of these 80 stores will be phased from Friday 20 July to Sunday 22 July, reducing the number of open stores to 230.…
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13 July
Build-A-Bear Workshop ‘pay your age’ offer leads to ‘riots’
A ‘pay your age’ offer at Build-A-Bear Workshop has lead to “riots” at stores across the UK and America. The offer allowed customers to purchase bears worth in excess of £45 for the same price as their child’s age. Stores across the UK including those in Sheffield, Birmingham and Telford…
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13 July
Hobbycraft reports eighth consecutive year of sales growth
Arts and crafts retailer Hobbycraft has reported its eighth consecutive year of sales growth, driven by multi-channel platform expansion. The group’s full year results ending 18 February 2018 saw total revenue increase by 6.4% to £168.5m, and like-for-like store increase by 2.3%. E-commerce retailing also grew by 21.5% and now…
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13 July
Bumper June footfall sees record increase of 11.4%
UK retailers benefited from record month-on-month growth in footfall for June, with a 11.4% increase in high street traffic compared with May. Compared with the same period last year, footfall was 7.8% lower, but June did deliver a reduction in the year-on-year deficit for the fourth successive month, data from…
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13 July
Wilko appoints Craig McGregor as new retail director
Homeware retailer Wilko has announced that former Topshop retail director Craig McGregor will be joining its senior team to help tackle the “changing retail environment”. McGregor joins Wilko with over 15 years’ senior leadership experience from across the UK, US and Europe, including retail director roles at Topshop/Topman and Matalan…
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12 July
B&M reports strong sales growth
Discount high street retailer B&M has reported a strong start to the new financial year with revenue growth of 21.3% The period from 1 April 2018 to 30 June 2018 showed a revenue increase £656.3m to £796.3m. The company also saw its UK revenue increase by 8.3%, including like-for-like growth…
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12 July
Usdaw calls for ‘proper’ staff representation amid M&S store closures threat
Shopworkers’ trade union Usdaw has renewed its call for recognition as the union for M&S staff, after the company’s chairman “refused to rule out further store closures and job losses”. The group urged M&S management to abandon its “long-held resistance” to allowing Usdaw to represent the staff, and…
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12 July
Hot weather springs profit warning at DFS
DFS has announced a profit warning, blaming poor sales performance on decreased high street footfall during the hot weather, disruption to supply chains, and “lower than expected order intake”. The furniture retailer said it expects EBITDA for the full financial year to be down on last year’s total of £82.4m,…
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11 July
M&S warns of further store closures and job cuts
M&S bosses have warned of further store closures and job cuts in meetings at the company’s AGM, which took place yesterday (11 June). The department store chain’s chairman, Archie Norman, told shareholders: “I can’t tell you it won’t be the last”, when speaking about the recent closures at the department…
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