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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Mar- 2018 -12 March
Mass debt for Claire’s Accessories causing bankruptcy talks
US based retailer Claire’s Accessories has been reportedly preparing for bankruptcy, following a mass of debt and a heavy reliance on shopping centres. According to Bloomberg Claire’s is $2bn (£1.4bn) in debt, causing instability for the retailer. Claire’s Stores Inc is attempting to reach new customers at local supermarkets and…
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9 March
Valentine’s Day sales fall for fifth year in a row
Valentine’s Day like-for-like in-store sales fell by -1.6% in February, according to the BDO High Street Sales Tracker. The poor performance comes from a weak benchmark of -2.2% for the same period last year and is a further blow to a struggling high street which has seen the collapse of…
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9 March
Shoe Zone, Karen Millen ‘named and shamed’ over minimum wage
Karen Millen and Shoe Zone are among the firms that have been ‘named and shamed’ by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) for failing to pay their employees the minimum wage. In a list of 179 companies, Karen Millen failed to pay £9,847.20 to 28 workers while…
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8 March
Co-op launches ‘pay in aisle’ mobile app technology
The Co-op has launched a new mobile app that allows customers to pay for their groceries in the aisle and avoid going to the till altogether. The ‘shop, scan and go’ initiative is being trialled at a Co-op’s store in the group’s support centre in Manchester, with a wider roll-out…
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8 March
Owner of John Lewis and Waitrose reports 77% drop in annual profits
The John Lewis Partnership has announced a 77% drop in annual profits and has cut the annual bonus given to staff. Pre-tax profit for the year to 27 January fell to £103.9m while the employee-owned partnership’s bonus scheme fell to 5% of salary – down from 6% for 2017/18 and…
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8 March
Mother’s Day spending to reach £600m
Brits are set to spend £600 million on Mother’s Day this year, an increase of 3.4% from 2017, according to new research. Mintel research found that extra spending could be attributed to advertising making most mothers pressured to be perfect. Three-quarters (73%) of mothers agree that adverts make parenting look…
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7 March
Business in the Community launches ‘healthier workplace’ toolkit
Business in the Community (BITC), in association with Public Health England (PHE), has launched a new physical activity, healthy eating and healthier weight toolkit for employers. According to BITC one in four women and one in five men in England are defined as inactive, doing less than 30 minutes of…
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7 March
New Look announces CVA proposal, 980 staff at risk
Clothing chain New Look has announced company voluntary agreement (CVA) proposal that will look to close up to 60 stores, reduce rental costs and potentially make up to 980 staff members redundant. Under the proposal, the fashion retailer has identified 60 out of its total 593 stores in the UK…
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6 March
Consumer spending on ‘non-essentials’ increases
According to Barclaycard February 2018 saw increased sales of non-essentials, as consumers continued to prioritise their spending on the ‘experience economy’. Data from the group also revealed supermarket spending (3.2%) returned to levels previously seen over the past six months, after a spike of 4.4% in January 2018. Entertainment performed…
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6 March
Grocery purchases drive UK retail sales: BRC
Food sales continue to drive up sales in the retail sector, but non-food retailers suffered a fall in spending. Over three months to February in-store sales of non-food items declined by 2.4% on a total basis, and 3.3% on a like-for-like basis, according to figures released today by the British…
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