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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Nov- 2018 -13 November
Asda trials new ‘inclusive hour’ as part of Purple Tuesday
Supermarket giant Asda is trialling a new ‘inclusive hour’ in stores in Kent and Manchester as part of its support for Purple Tuesday (13 November), the UK’s first accessible shopping day. Selected stores across the two regions are trialling an hour for local people with autism and dementia who may…
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13 November
B&M posts double-digit sales and profit growth
B&M has announced a double-digit increase in both group revenues and profit before tax in the 26 week period ending 29 September. The discount retailer saw group revenue jump 16% to £1.56bn during the period as profit before tax increased by 32.5% up to £115m compared with the £86.6m recorded…
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13 November
EU rules could ‘thwart’ Hammond’s business rates promise
Hammond’s plan to help high streets through a near £1bn, two year business rates cut, is set to be thwarted by European Union state aid rules, real estate agents Altus Group have claimed. The chancellor will slash business rates next April by discounting bills by a third for those retail…
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13 November
John Lewis, M&S and Next sign anti-slavery agreement
Retailers John Lewis, M&S, New Look, Next, River Island and Shop Direct have signed a joint agreement to combat labour exploitation in UK textiles manufacturing. The Apparel and General Merchandise Public and Private Protocol commits signatories to work together to eradicate slavery and exploitation in textile supply chains. The retailers…
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12 November
Sainsbury’s enlists Greatest Showman director for Christmas ad
Sainsbury’s has unveiled its new Christmas advert, ‘The Big Night’, directed by The Greatest Showman director Michael Gracey. The ad which is now available online and will premier on TV on Monday during Coronation Street on ITV, and is the first to be released by one of the ‘Big Four’ supermarkets.…
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12 November
Forecasts predict £99bn retail sales increase during ‘golden quarter’
Total UK retail sales in Q4 are expected to rise by 2% to £98.8bn for the three months to the end of 2018, known as the ‘golden quarter’. According to retail data and insights firm GlobalData, 2018 has been a year of “retail failures, profit warnings and store closures so…
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12 November
All Saints sees profits fall by over half
Clothing retailer All Saints has seen its profits fall by over half to £10.6m in the year to February 2018. Sales rose by 8% to £327m during the same period, falling short of the £500m target owners Lion Capital had set. The investment firm bought a majority stake in All…
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12 November
Footfall drops for 11th consecutive month
Footfall in October fell by 2% on the previous year, an identical fall to that recorded in October 2017 and a deeper decline than September 2018 when footfall fell by 1.7%. According to the Springboard retail footfall figures, October also marked the 11th month of consecutive footfall decline. However, analysts…
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9 November
Half of British small retailers ‘love’ their job
Half of small UK retailers said that they “love” their job according to new research, the highest out of nine other sectors polled and four times higher than the national average of 12%. The research by Yougov accessed a sample of over 1,000 senior managers in the retail sector, working…
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9 November
October footfall ‘wobble’ sparks fresh concern for UK high street
October saw a 7.4% drop in UK store visits, the biggest year-on-year drop since July, while average weekly footfall was down 2.9% compared with September. According to Ipsos Retail Performance’s latest Retail Traffic Index (RTI) the areas with the highest decline in store visits were south west England and Wales,…
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