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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Feb- 2018 -28 February
48% of retail job candidates lie on their CV
Nearly half of retail job candidates lie on their CV, according to a recent survey. New research from job site Adzuna.co.uk found that 56% would even be prepared to tell a ‘big lie’ in order to gain their dream job. 78% of people also revealed that their lie was never…
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27 February
Marks and Spencer publishes gender pay gap figures
Marks and Spencer is the latest retailer to publish its gender pay gap figures, with a claim that its gaps were lower than both the UK and retail average. For the year of 2017, the company reported a mean pay gap of 12.3% between its male and female staff, while…
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27 February
High street banks urged to continue taking in old £10 notes to ‘save’ retailers
Retailers are continuing to hand out old £10 notes despite them ceasing to be legal tender on 1 March 2018. However, the Bank of England has not asked shops to stop giving them as change, which could cause issues as £2bn effectively becomes unspendable. The British Retail Consortium said: “It…
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27 February
Michael Law to resign as Next’s group operations director
Next has announced that group operations director Michael Law is to step down as he prepares to retire this summer. After 23 years at the company, five of which were spent on its board, the fashion retailer has announced that Law will step down from the Next board of directors…
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27 February
Maplin rescue talks falter as deadline approaches
Maplin is rushing to find new capital to save it from falling into administration, with talks with a potential buyer stalling. According to Sky News, the electronics retailer is locked in talks with its potential buyer Edinburgh Woollen Mill (EWM) – the high street empire that includes Jaeger and Dorothy…
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26 February
Primark sales drop due to ‘unseasonably warm weather’
Sales at Primark took a hit in autumn following a spell of unseasonably warm weather, but the fashion retailer still expects profit growth to pick up this year. In the 24 weeks to March 3, Primark’s owner Associated British Foods (AB Foods) said like-for-like sales at Primark were expected to…
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26 February
Toys R Us could go bust ‘within days’, 3200 jobs at risk
Toys R Us looks set to go into administration within days, as the toy retailer faces a £15m debt. Last minute discussions with potential buyers fell through last week and it now looks likely that the retailer is set for a collapse. In a statement earlier this year, the firm…
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26 February
Leaked email reveals Philip Green ‘asked HSBC to find Arcadia buyer’
A newly leaked email suggests that Philip Green enlisted the help of HSBC to find a buyer for the Arcadia Group, despite his claims to the contrary last week. According to reports Green met with the banking giants managing director David Barraclough and UK chief executive Ian Stuart back in…
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26 February
90% of small firms not prepared for new data regulation
Over a third of small businesses have not yet started preparing for the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), according to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). A further third (35%) are only in the early stages of preparation, claims the new research published today. Only 8% of…
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21 February
Homebase and Bunnings owner sees profits plummet in 2017
Wesfarmer, which owns DIY stores Homebase and Bunnings, has revealed profits for the second half of 2017 were down by 86.6%. Wesfarmers said that five loss-making Homebase branches were closed between July and December 2017, but it added it was hopeful business would improve during the UK spring and summer.…
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