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 -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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24 April
300 jobs lost as East poised to stop trading next week
Fashion retailer East is to stop trading next week after administrators were unable to find a buyer, with 300 employees to be made redundant. According to reports, East will cease trading on 4 May after administrators at FRP Advisory were unable to find a buyer despite receiving at least three…
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24 April
Co-op’s £143m takeover of Nisa cleared by CMA
The Co-op’s £143m takeover of Nisa approved by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), subject to a court sanction on May 4. The Nisa board voted in favour of the proposal by Co-Op in November 2017 and the deal is hoped to be completed by 8 May. In a joint…
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23 April
Shop that sold illegal tobacco ‘wants its licence back’
A shop that was banned from selling tobacco and alcohol is reapplying for a new licence, it has been reported. Owner Nzar Jabar Kadir’s bid has been opposed by local authorities who cite a massive hive of criminal activity around the shop and fear that allowing it to sell alcohol…
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20 April
Bonmarché expects profit to meet expectations despite sales drop
Bonmarché has announced that for the 52 weeks to the 31 March in store like-for-like sales were down by 4.5% caused by a 11% drop in sales in Q4. However the women’s retailer said that it still expects full year profits to “be in line with expectations”. Online sales experienced…
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