News
News is Retail Sector’s central hub for breaking stories, market developments and company updates from across the UK retail industry. This category delivers authoritative, timely coverage on everything from trading performance and executive changes to store openings, brand activity and supply chain developments.
Retail Sector’s news coverage focuses on the business realities behind the headlines — providing retail professionals with context on how each development impacts operations, strategy and market confidence. Readers can expect clear, accurate reporting designed to keep decision-makers informed and competitive in a fast-moving retail landscape.
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Dec- 2018 -19 December
Footfall drops in lead-up to Christmas trading period
Footfall dropped by 0.1% during the second week December, according to the latest figures from Springboard. However, the drop appears marginal compared with the decline in footfall in the same week last year when snow and ice swept the UK on Sunday shutting roads and transport hubs, creating difficulties until…
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19 December
John Lewis bucks retail woes with festive sales increase
John Lewis has bucked retail troubles reporting a total sales increase of 1.8% for the week to 15 December. The retailer blamed the rise on price-matching discounts and increased business from Christmas shoppers. The rise has defied trends elsewhere in the retail sector, where companies such as Asos have issued…
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19 December
Lowest November growth in seven years for online retail
UK online retail sales suffered its worst November growth since 2011 last month coming in at just +8.1% year-on-year (YoY), as Black Friday discounting failed to encourage consumer spending, according to the latest IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index. November fell below the three- (+8.3%), six- (+10.5%) and 12-month (+12.2%) sales…
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18 December
Consumer spending drags for second month in a row
Consumer spending has dropped by 0.7% in November, the second month of decline following the 0.2% drop in October according to Visa’s UK Consumer Spending Index. Expenditure also struggled to maintain growth momentum in 2018 to date, with spending falling in seven of the 11 months of the year so…
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18 December
HMV’s Hong Kong operations enter liquidation following 41% revenue fall
HMV is to wind up its Hong Kong stores after entering liquidation today (18 December), the company blamed a 41% revenue fall on the previous year along with the “global development of information and economic climate”. The retailer said the company’s insolvency was also to blame for the liquidation along…
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18 December
‘Record levels’ of discounting expected in Christmas lead up
UK consumers are benefiting from “record levels” of pre-Christmas discounting in 2018, according to analysis of more than 800,000 products by Deloitte. Deloitte found that retail discounts currently average 43.6% and by Christmas Eve that could rise to 48%, a new record. According to the accounting firm, the record levels…
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18 December
Brits to spend £1.65bn on last minute Christmas purchases
Some 14.9 million shoppers are expected to spend £1.65bn on last minute Christmas purchases, new research by discount code website VoucherCodes and the Centre of Retail Research (CRR) has revealed – equating to £2.38m per minute. Falling on 22 December, ‘Super Saturday’ is expected to see 10.1 million people descend…
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17 December
Dominic Chappell fined £124k for breaking pensions law
Former BHS owner Dominic Chappell has been fined £124,000 by the Hove Crown Court for breaking pensions law. According to Sky News Chappell was found guilty of withholding documents on the company’s pension scheme from the The Pensions Regulator (TPR) after it went into administration, and was re-sentenced on Friday…
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17 December
Laura Ashley to close 40 UK stores as it expands to China
Homeware and clothing retailer, Laura Ashley has announced it is to close 40 UK stores as it expands its Chinese business. Laura Ashley has already closed 40 UK stores since 2015 with owners Malayan United Industries (MUI) planning to reduce its UK presence to 120 stores. The group then wants…
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17 December
Asos issues profit warning after tough November trading
Online fashion retailer Asos has issued a profit warning due to its performance in November coming in “significantly behind” expectations. This is despite a 14% sales increase in its first quarter trading and September and October coming in “broadly in line” with expectations. However economic uncertainty plus weaker consumer confidence…
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