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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May- 2018 -11 May
Superdry’s global revenue surges to £1.6bn
Fashion retailer Superdry global brand revenue surged by 22% to £1.6bn for the 12 months to 28 April. In a trading update Superdry said the growth was driven by “continued strong progress in Superdry’s capital light channels, wholesale and ecommerce”, which delivered sales growth of 29.6% and 25.8% respectively. Additionally…
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10 May
Homebase receives bid from former Comet owner
Opcapita, the former owner of Comet has put in a bid of an undisclosed amount for Homebase according to Sky News. Homebase owners Wesfarmers are looking to sell the chain following their 2016 takeover and are offering a £100m dowry to any potential buyer. Homebase reported a $97m trading loss…
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10 May
Next defies gloom with Q1 sales growth
Fashion retailer Next has recovered from its “most challenging year” reporting a Q1 sales increase of 6% compared with last year. Next said that the results were better than expected and around £40m ahead of its internal forecast, boosted in recent weeks by unusually warm weather. The company’s online sales…
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9 May
Retail sales ‘fall off a cliff’ in April
Like-for-like sales fell by 4.2% in April, according to the British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) latest BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor. Online retail bucked the overall trend of declining sales, with growth in all categories except toys and baby equipment. According to the report, retailers hope for a “buoyant May, boosted by…
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4 May
Over 500 jobs threatened as Virgin Media closes call centre
Virgin Media is set to cull over 500 jobs at a Swansea call centre as part of a shake up at the company. The call centre currently employs 792 people, with some staff moving to the Manchester branch. The broadband and telecoms firm is planning to cut the number of…
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1 May
Carpetright expects £9m profit drop
Carpetright has warned pre-tax profits will fall £9m for the year ending 28 April 2018. According to the carpet retailer this performance, combined with that of the previous nine months, will result in full year like-for-like sales falling by 3.6%. Like-for-like sales in Europe fell 8.3% in the final quarter,…
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1 May
Sports Direct pips JD Sports, acquires 20% stake in Finish Line
Sports Direct has acquired almost 8 million shares in US sports retailer Finish Line – the company set to be bought by its rival JD Sports. In a ‘Strategic US Investments’ update the company owned by billionaire Mike Ashley revealed it currently holds 7,957,800 shares in Finish Line, representing 19.3%…
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Apr- 2018 -30 April
Consumer confidence drops further in April
UK consumer confidence has dropped even further in the month of April, according to market research institute GFK. The institute’s Consumer Confidence Index dropped by two points to -9 in April, the 28th consecutive month without an overall positive index score. Four out of the five index measures decreased, with…
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25 April
Argos chastised by ASA over raising prices to include ‘free’ add-ons
The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has warned Argos after it was found raising prices to cover the cost of supposedly ‘free’ extras. The advert in question was for a Canon Powershot SX620 camera priced at £179.99, in which further text said the camera came with a free 16GB SD card…
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24 April
650 retail stores have closed in 2018 so far
Nearly 650 retail stores and restaurants have shut or are at risk of closure since the start of 2018. According to analysis by BBC 5 live’s Wake Up to Money Maplin and Toys R Us sites accounted for half of the total closures, as both chains fell into administration on…
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