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.
-
May- 2022 -9 May
West End landlords Shaftesbury and Capco consider £3.5bn merger
The Boards of Shaftesbury PLC and Capital and Counties Properties PLC (Capco) have confirmed they are in advanced discussions regarding a possible £3.5bn all-share merger of the two companies. Under the proposed terms of the possible merger, Shaftesbury’s shareholders, excluding the Shaftesbury shareholding owned by Capco, will own 53% of…
Read More » -
6 May
Footfall drops again in April
Footfall in UK retail destinations dipped once again in April 2022, falling to -15.9%, down from a decline of -15.3% in March 2022, according to the latest figures from Springboard. It said that the month was “salvaged” by Easter in the second week, when footfall rose by +9.1% from the…
Read More » -
6 May
Sports Direct opens £10m Birmingham flagship
Sports Direct is opening its latest flagship store in the heart of Birmingham with a 60,000 square feet concept space that has seen an investment of over £10m. Located on New Street, Sports Direct Birmingham is set across four floors and it will be the first flagship to house USC,…
Read More » -
4 May
Early May bank holiday provides footfall boost
The impact of two bank holidays has led to an uplift in footfall over the last week of April, up 29.5% year-on-year, rising 0.7% week-on-week. According to Springboard, the beginning of the week was still influenced by Easter, due to low comparables in the week before last on Easter Sunday…
Read More » -
4 May
Retail Jobs Alliance demands business rates reform
An alliance of retail companies including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Greggs and Waterstones are forging a new coalition to urge Rishi Sunak to move ahead with reforms to Britain’s decades-old business rates regime, according to Sky News. The group, which is calling itself the Retail Jobs Alliance, has written to the chancellor…
Read More » -
3 May
Asda owners in talks to sell £13bn EG Group
Asda owners the Issa brothers are reportedly in talks to merge their EG petrol forecourt business with Canadian convenience store giant Couche-Tard, according to the Wall Street Journal. Couche-Tard, which runs 7,000 convenience stores in the U.S. and as many abroad, EG Group have traded proposals in recent weeks that…
Read More » -
3 May
Card Factory swings to profit in FY22
Card Factory plc has reported its pre-tax profits surged 167.7% to £11.1m for the year ended 31 January 2022 (FY22), compared to a loss of £16.4m in FY21. It said the performance comes in ahead of management’s expectations and amid “significant” trading disruption and inflationary cost pressures. Revenues also increased…
Read More » -
3 May
John Lewis to hire 150 tech jobs in digital expansion
John Lewis Partnership has announced it is hiring over 150 roles as part of a major investment in digital. The group is aiming to hire engineers across a range of technologies including software, cloud platform, native app, data engineers and delivery leads. It comes as the group aims to take…
Read More » -
Apr- 2022 -28 April
Superdrug freezes prices on over 100 products
Superdrug has announced that it is freezing the prices of over 100 everyday essential products across personal care, beauty and healthcare in a bid to help customers with the current cost of living crisis. The health and beauty retailer said it will freeze these prices for at least one year,…
Read More » -
28 April
Apollo and Reliance plan joint bid for Boots takeover
US buyout firm Apollo Global Management and Reliance Industries have joined forces to plan a joint bid for UK pharmacy chain Boots, according to the Financial Times. Reliance is owned by India’s second-richest man, Mukesh Ambani, and if the bid is successful, Boots will expand its footprint into India, south-east…
Read More »
