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 -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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10 July
Deloitte announces first wave of Poundworld store closures
Deloitte, which is handling the administration of Poundworld, has announced the closure of 25 stores resulting in around 242 staff redundancies. Administrators said the decision will not impact on the potential sale of the remaining business, which will include a significant number of stores, the head office and distribution centre.…
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10 July
Poundland founder prepares Poundworld bid after Chris Edwards pulls out
The founder of Poundland, Steve Smith, is preparing a bid for embattled rival Poundworld after Chris Edwards, the latter’s founder, withdrew his bid for the company. A Press Association release said Smith was in early-stage talks with Deloitte, however the administrators declined to comment when contacted by Retail Sector. Smith…
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10 July
Home Bargains ‘underpaid staff £272k’
Discount retailer TJ Morris Limited, trading as Home Bargains, has failed to pay the national minimum wage to its staff according to the UK government. Home Bargains appeared second in a government list of nearly 240 employers who had not paid the National Living and Minimum Wage, with the retailer…
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