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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Aug- 2018 -16 August
Online sales and discounts help to boost retail sales
UK retail sales outperformed predictions with an increase of 0.7% in July, recent statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show. This signified a recovery from the previous month, which saw a 0.5% decrease in the quantity of items purchased. When compared with the same month last year, the…
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16 August
Brits wear clothes once for ‘hashtag moment’ before returning items
Almost one in 10 Brits have bought clothes online to wear once with the aim of posting a photo to social media and then returning their purchases. This figure rises to almost one in five among 35-44 year olds (17%), the biggest percentage of any age group. According to Barclaycard…
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16 August
B&Q owner Kingfisher records Q2 revenue boost thanks to warm weather
Kingfisher, the owner of B&Q and Screwfix, has posted a 1.6% increase in revenue during the three months ending 31 July. The increase was driven by a 3.6% increase in revenue at B&Q’s UK and RoI stores which Kingfisher said benefitted from sales in “weather-related categories”. Screwfix reported a…
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15 August
Fat Face sales jump up 7.4%
Clothing retailer Fat Face has announced it has seen an overall sales rise of 7.4% to £238.4m in the 52 weeks to 2 June. Like-for-like growth also rose 4.9% across the same period, despite the company’s CEO Anthony Thompson warning in the company’s last financial update that the UK retail…
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15 August
Amazon Prime one-day delivery ad banned by ASA
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has now banned Amazon from advertising one-day delivery on it’s Prime service after it was found to be “misleading”. Earlier this week the ASA had asked the online retail giant to “clarify” its its ‘one-day’ delivery claims for Prime customers after the regulatory body received…
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15 August
Superdrug launches in-store Botox and filler service
High street health and beauty store Superdrug has launched an in-store Botox and fillers service at its flagship on the Strand in London. It is the first high street store to offer such a service and the scheme launched in conjunction with its Skin Renew Service. The service was established…
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15 August
Former Co-op director claims she was fired over equal pay claim
The former HR director of the Co-op, Sam Walker, has claimed she was fired from the company after raising an equal pay claim three times with then CEO Richard Pennycook. According to a report by The Guardian Walker has warned that the retailer could be paying its male and female…
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14 August
42 Homebase stores to face the axe
DIY retailer Homebase has announced the closure of 42 stores, resulting in around 1,500 redundancies. The DIY chain has already closed 17 stores after it was bought out by restructuring experts Hilco for £1 in May, and is said to be filing for a CVA. Insolvency advisors Alvarez & Marsal…
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14 August
High street job losses ‘cost British economy £1.5bn’
New research has found that high street job losses have cost the British economy £1.5bn, as the number of lost jobs exceeds 30,000. Figures from the New Economics Foundation (NEF) include those facing imminent redundancy alongside those who have already lost their jobs, adding up to £1.5bn in lost GDP.…
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14 August
Sainsbury’s trials ‘till-free shopping’ at south London store
Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s is trialling a new ‘scan, pay and go’ scheme at its Clapham North Station Local store, enabling customers to pay for products using only their smartphone. Customers at the trial supermarket will be able to pay for their items from anywhere in the shop, instead of a…
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