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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Sep- 2021 -22 September
Abercrombie & Fitch opens Regent Street store
Abercrombie and Fitch has announced it is opening a new store located at 150 Regent Street, in the heart of London’s busiest shopping district. Amenities include fitting rooms containing adjustable lighting and music controls, a phone charging dock, and buttons for customers to alert associates. The store will also offer…
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22 September
Pret unveils £100m expansion plan despite losses
Pret A Manger has unveiled plans to double the size of its business within the next five years, as it looks to expand into five new markets by the end of 2023. In addition, the group plans to open around 200 new UK stores over the next two years alone,…
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21 September
Four in five shops to shut without business rates reform, says BRC
Some 83% of retailers would reportedly be forced to close shops without the introduction of a business rates reform as a part of the Government’s upcoming review. According to research conducted by the British Retail Consortium (BRC), 85% of those retailers surveyed recognised business rates as either an “extremely” or…
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20 September
Gap to return to the UK with new Next partnership
Next has announced that it has finalised an agreement with Gap to manage the business in the UK and Ireland as a franchise partner. Under the agreement, the companies will form a joint venture to operate Gap’s e-commerce business across the Next total Platform, host Gap-branded shop-in-shops at select retail…
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17 September
BIRA calls on gov to appeal card payment fees
British Independent Retailers Association (BIRA) has added its voice to a group of trade bodies appealing for parliament to intervene and protect British businesses and consumers from the cost of anti-competitive practices in card payments. The association has joined the British Retail Consortium (BRC), Association of Convenience Stores (ACS), Federation…
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17 September
Retail sales fall 0.9% in August, ONS reveals
Retail sales volumes fell by 0.9% in August 2021, marking the second consecutive month-on-month decline, according to the latest Office of National Statistics (ONS) data. Despite the drop in sales, the results still remained 4.6% higher than their pre-pandemic February 2020 levels. Online sales rose to 27.7% in August from…
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15 September
BRC urges gov to act now to stop shop worker abuse
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) is calling on the government to honour the commitment it made in the House of Commons to address the issues of rising violence and abuse against shop workers and “ensure that they have better protection under the law”. The BRC has made the plea ahead…
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14 September
Dobbies Garden Centres opens new London store
Dobbies Garden Centres has announced that it has opened its second London-based store located on Chiswick High Road. The opening is the fourth little Dobbies to open in the last year, following the success of the first three stores in Edinburgh, Bristol and, most recently, Westbourne Grove in Notting Hill.…
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14 September
Footfall declines 4.2% despite signs of office return
Footfall in UK retail destinations declined by -4.2% last week from the week before, despite Central London starting to show signs of an office return for workers, according to the latest data from Springboard. The greatest declines occurred in shopping centres and retail parks, down -7.7% and -4.7% respectively, but…
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10 September
UK economic growth slows, ONS reveals
UK economic growth slowed down in July, growing by 0.1% compared with 1% in June 2021, according to the latest data by the Office of National Statistics (ONS). With the spread of the Delta variant and the “pingdemic” taking its hold in July, gross domestic product (GDP) still remains 2.1%…
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