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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Jan- 2018 -5 January
Asda opens UK’s first ‘parcel vending machine’
A new automated ‘parcel tower’ for George.com’s click-and-collect service has been installed at Asda’s Trafford Park store following a successful trial by parent company Walmart in the US. The acts as a giant parcel vending machine. Customers can choose items available on George.com from their computer or smartphone, select the…
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4 January
Waitrose bans sales of high caffeine drinks to minors
Supermarket giant Waitrose has announced that it will ban sales of highly caffeinated energy drinks to minors. From 5 March 2018, stores will ask customers to provide identification proving that they are over the age of 16 when purchasing drinks containing more than 150mg of caffeine per litre. The move…
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3 January
Next boosts profit forecast by £7m after stronger Christmas sales
Clothing retailer Next has raised its full year profit forecast by £7m after delivering a stronger than expected Christmas sales period. The period yielded a 1.5% increase in full-price sales from November 1 to December 24, attributed to strong online sales for winter clothing as customers prepared for the cold…
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3 January
Retail entertainment reaches ‘all-time-high’ in 2017
The size of the UK’s retail entertainment market reached an all-time high of £7.24bn in 2017 driven mainly by digital streaming services, according to new data. In figures compiled by the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA), the market segment saw combined sales growth of 8.8% across music, video and games, compared…
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2 January
Festive footfall disappoints despite increase on New Years Day
Footfall dropped by -10.5% on New Year’s Eve compared with the previous year, according to new retail footfall data. Springboard, a provider of automated footfall monitoring services, reported footfall dropped significantly and unexpectedly on New Year’s Eve across the UK, declining by -10.5% over the 24 hours and by -7.2%…
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2 January
Co-op to open 100 new food stores in 2018
The Co-op has confirmed plans to open 100 new food stores across the UK in 2018, creating an estimated 1,600 jobs. It comes as part of the £160m investment programme for the community retailer that includes new stores and major refurbishment for a further 150 outlets. More than 20 new…
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Nov- 2017 -23 November
Retail associations respond to ‘encouraging’ Autumn Budget
A number of retail associations have responded positively to the Chancellor’s Budget which was revealed yesterday (22 November). The British Retail Consortium (BRC) and NFU Mutual reacted to the announcement that the move from RPI to CPI indexation will be brought forward by two years to 2018, allowing for a…
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21 November
Online retail growth lower than average in pre-Black Friday lull
Despite showing a year-on-year growth of 12.6%, online retail sales figures in October were lower than average suggesting a pre-Black Friday lull. According to the latest figures from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index, this was lower than both the average YoY growth rate of 14.3% for the last 3…
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21 November
Retail to lose £4.5bn by neglecting ‘grey pound’, says report
Older people’s charity, Anchor, is highlighting the “dire” need for the high street to reinvent itself as a new report predicts up to £4.5bn annual losses by 2030 as retailers fail to attract the grey pound. The report entitled ‘Older generations to rescue the high street’ by the Centre for Future Studies, commissioned…
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20 November
Retail bosses call on Chancellor for ‘shoppers’ budget’
Leading CEOs from across British retail are today backing Phillip Hammond, the Chancellor, to deliver a “shoppers’ Budget” including decisive action in his upcoming Budget to relieve the business rates burden. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) says that without action in the Budget on Wednesday (22 Nov), retailers alone face…
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