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 -19 July
‘Phantom hours’ costing UK businesses £37m a week
A survey of shift workers in the retail, hospitality and leisure industries has found staff to be overstating their working hours by an average of almost half an hour a week. Staff rota scheduling firm Rotaready, which conducted the survey, said these ‘phantom hours’ are costing UK businesses as much…
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18 July
Hotel Chocolat reports another strong year of growth
Chocolate retailer Hotel Chocolat has a reported a 12% increase in revenue for the financial year ending July 1 2018. The business opened 15 stores in the year, which contributed 6% to the retailer’s year-on-year sales, added 200,000 new online buyers and has developed a number of new products for…
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17 July
Another 40 Poundworld stores to shutter
The administrators of Poundworld, Deloitte, have announced yet another wave of store closures bringing the total number of shuttered stores to 145 so far. The latest closure of 40 stores will result in redundancies for 531 employees when the properties shut on Tuesday 24 July 2018. The news follows the…
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17 July
Usdaw hits out at M&S for second time after 351 management roles cut
Trade union Usdaw has said that it will continue its campaign to be recognised as a representative for M&S workers after saying the company has not been allowing it to represent workers. Following the announcement that 351 management roles were to be cut at M&S, Usdaw national officer Dave Gill…
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17 July
Sir John Timpson to advise government on high street future
Sir John Timpson has been appointed to chair a panel of experts to advise on how to improve the future of the British high street by high streets minister Jake Berry MP. Along with the rest of the panel, the chairman of shoe repair and key cutting chain Timpson, will…
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16 July
The Works to open 50 stores per year and plans to IPO
Discount retailer The Works has unveiled plans to float on the London Stock Exchange and open 50 new stores each year, as it defies falling high street footfall. The Works is planning a £100m listing on the stock market which will give management and shareholders a £36.7m payout. Along with…
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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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