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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Aug- 2023 -3 August
Pets at Home revenues jump 7.9% to £436m
Pets at Home has announced that its group revenue rose 7.9% to £436.8m for the 16 weeks ended 20 July 2023. The company’s consumer revenues rose 10.2% to £568.2m supported by both volume and value growth. Its vet group revenue was up 16.3%, with a like-for-like increase of 16.6%, increasingly…
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1 August
Greggs profits jump 14.2% to £63.7m in H1
Bakery retailer Greggs has revealed that its underlying profit before tax excluding exceptional items increased 14.2% to £63.7m in the 26 weeks ended 1 July. This comes as the group’s total first-half sales increased 21.5%, with company-managed shops experiencing a like-for-like increase of 16%. Meanwhile, an underlying earnings growth of…
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Jul- 2023 -28 July
UK loses 6,000 storefronts in five years
The UK high street has lost over 6,000 storefronts in the past five years as the vacancy rate increased to 13.9% in Q2 2023, according to the latest figures from the BRC-LDC Vacancy Monitor. The Q2 performance was 0.1 percentage points worse than Q1, however it is 0.1 percentage point…
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28 July
B&M secures three-year Bobby Arora commitment
B&M has announced that it has agreed a deal with group trading director Bobby Arora which will see him committed to the company until March 2026 at least. As a result of the deal Arora can receive a maximum bonus payout of £16m across the three year period depending on…
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27 July
Retail crime soars by 35% to record levels, Co-op warns
Retail crime has soared to “record” levels, with repeat offenders and criminal gangs operating with little consequences, the Co-op Group has warned. The retailer said it has seen crime, shoplifting and anti-social behaviour surge 35% year-on-year, with more than 175,000 incidents recorded in the first six months of this year,…
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27 July
Frasers profits nearly double amid sports retail growth
Frasers group has posted profit before tax of £660.7m for the year ended 30 April 2023, nearly double the £335.6m profit it posted last year. The company stated that this profit increase was mainly driven by a profit growth from its sports retail business from £2.64bn in 2022 to £3.08bn…
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25 July
Amazon closes its first checkoutless store after two years
Amazon’s first Amazon Fresh store in the UK has closed, having opened just over two years ago. The till-less store opened in Ealing Broadway in March 2021 and was the retailer’s first store of its kind to open outside of the US. The store was permanently shuttered on Sunday (23…
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21 July
Wilko owners explore potential sale
The owners of Wilko are reportedly exploring a potential sale of the chain in a bid to rescue the group’s future, Sky News has reported. Advisors are now said to be seeking out potential buyers, with sources telling Sky that a “large number” of large general merchandise chains have been…
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19 July
Small businesses to be offered rent-free stores on Oxford Street
Westminster City Council has partnered with New West End Company to launch a new programme called Meanwhile On: Oxford Street, which is encouraging applications from up-and-coming businesses that are looking to launch their first physical space. Meanwhile On: Oxford Street will offer “substantial” support by providing a six month tenancy…
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17 July
DFS hits FY23 profit guidance amid record market share
Furniture retailer DFS has announced that it has hit its profit guidance of just over £30m for the year ended 25 June 2023. DFS stated that it hit this target despite the market being “significantly worse than expected”. The company’s gross margin rate continued to improve supported by freight costs…
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