News
The latest news, updates and analysis on the the UK retail industry. Covering every segment of the market, Retail Sector’s business journalists keep you in the picture.
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Jul- 2018 -12 July
Long queues ‘costing retailers £12bn’
Long queues have been named the biggest turn-off for UK shoppers and could be costing retailers up to £12bn a year in potential sales losses. According to research released by payments platform Adyen, paired with 451 Research’s ‘Global Unified Commerce Forecast’, British retailers are struggling to keep up with increasing…
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12 July
B&M reports strong sales growth
Discount high street retailer B&M has reported a strong start to the new financial year with revenue growth of 21.3% The period from 1 April 2018 to 30 June 2018 showed a revenue increase £656.3m to £796.3m. The company also saw its UK revenue increase by 8.3%, including like-for-like growth…
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12 July
Usdaw calls for ‘proper’ staff representation amid M&S store closures threat
Shopworkers’ trade union Usdaw has renewed its call for recognition as the union for M&S staff, after the company’s chairman “refused to rule out further store closures and job losses”. The group urged M&S management to abandon its “long-held resistance” to allowing Usdaw to represent the staff, and…
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12 July
Asos sales jump 22% but full year may disappoint
Asos has posted a 22% increase in sales during the four months ending 30 June, yet warned that full-year sales growth will be at the “lower end” of expectations. The online fashion retailer said group revenue reached £823.9m with UK sales, which saw 23% growth, making up for a third…
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12 July
Hot weather springs profit warning at DFS
DFS has announced a profit warning, blaming poor sales performance on decreased high street footfall during the hot weather, disruption to supply chains, and “lower than expected order intake”. The furniture retailer said it expects EBITDA for the full financial year to be down on last year’s total of £82.4m,…
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11 July
UK retailers ‘hijack’ Amazon Prime Day
UK retailers have attempted to ‘hijack’ Amazon Prime Day by offering discounts in the run up to the sale event. According to retail sales aggregator LovetheSales.com, 30% more discounted products are currently available to consumers than usual at this time of year. The company has suggested that this “unusual discounting”…
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11 July
M&S warns of further store closures and job cuts
M&S bosses have warned of further store closures and job cuts in meetings at the company’s AGM, which took place yesterday (11 June). The department store chain’s chairman, Archie Norman, told shareholders: “I can’t tell you it won’t be the last”, when speaking about the recent closures at the department…
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11 July
Burberry’s growth slows in Q1 2018
Luxury fashion house Burberry has said it has recorded a “solid performance in retail during a period of transition”, despite seeing a slowdown in its sales growth for the first quarter of 2018. For its first quarter ending 30 June Burberry reported a 3% rise in like-for-like sales a marginal…
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11 July
Alternative Oxford Street ‘transformation’ announced
Westminster City Council has announced plans to “transform” – though not necessarily fully pedestrianise – Oxford Street after scrapping the Mayor of London’s plans for the area. The council will have to foot the £727,000 bill for the new development as TfL withdrew its support when the council blocked the…
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11 July
Martin Scicluna named by Sainsbury’s as chairman-designate
Sainsbury’s has appointed Martin Scicluna as its new non-executive chairman with a view to assuming the chairman role in 2019. He will work closely with outgoing chairman David Tyler during a handover period, and Sainsbury’s expects Scicluna to assume his new position in March 2019. The group announced in April…
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