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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Sep- 2024 -12 September
John Lewis narrows pre-tax losses to £30m
The John Lewis Partnership has revealed that its losses-before-tax closed to £30m, down from £59m, a decrease of 49%, for the 26 weeks ended 27 July 2024. Alongside this, the retailer’s losses-before-tax and exceptional items reduced by 91% from £57m down to just £5m. Overall, the company’s total revenue rose…
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12 September
Iceland expands product range in latest innovation push
Iceland Foods and The Food Warehouse have announced the launch of over 800 new products as part of its latest innovation push. The new products land in store and online from this week and include a variety of “exclusive” product offerings, including a launch of Jamie Oliver’s new frozen dishes.…
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12 September
Shop closures rise to 38 per day in 2024
An average of 38 shops closed down each day in the first six months of the year, according to new research from PwC. The latest data shows that a total of 6,945 shops belonging to multiples and chains exited Great Britain’s high streets, shopping centres and retail parks – a…
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11 September
Today’s news in brief-11/9/24
In July 2024, the UK economy saw no growth for the second consecutive month, failing to meet analysts’ expectations of a 0.2% expansion. The stagnant performance was largely due to mixed results across different sectors. The services sector recorded a slight 0.1% increase, primarily driven by a strong recovery in…
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11 September
Inditex H1 sales rise by 7.2% to €18bn amid ‘well received’ collections
Zara-owner Inditex has reported a 7.2% year-on-year rise in revenues to €18.1bn (£15.3bn) for the first half of 2024, with profit before tax rising 10.6% to €3.6bn (£3.04bn). The group has also revealed that net income rose by 10.1% to €2.8bn (£2.36bn), while gross profits rose by 7.5% to €10.5bn…
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11 September
UK economy stagnates for second consecutive month
The UK economy experienced no growth for the second consecutive month in July, underperforming analysts’ expectations of 0.2% growth for the month. The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that services output is estimated to have increased by 0.1% in July 2024, following a decrease of…
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11 September
WH Smith group sales rise 7% amid strong travel growth
WH Smith has reported a 7% rise in group revenues and 5% rise in like-for-like sales for the 12 months to 31 August, driven by travel which was up 10%. The group’s travel category delivered strong growth because of category development and enhancing ranges, most notably in food and drinks,…
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11 September
Dunelm PBT rises 6.6%
Dunelm has revealed that its profit-before-tax rose 6.6% to £205m, up from £193m, for the year ended 29 June 2024. Alongside this, the company’s total sales rose 4.1% to £1.71bn compared with £1.64bn in the same period last year. The company also stated it saw an increase in active customers…
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11 September
Boohoo shifts US fulfilment operations to UK
Boohoo is set to shut its US distribution centre and instead fulfil its stateside orders from its automated distribution centre in Sheffield. The retailer previously supplied its US customers from a distribution centre in Pennsylvania. The decision to shift US fulfilment operations to the UK comes as the group looks to…
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10 September
Today’s news in brief-10/9/24
Burberry has faced a significant downturn, with its market value plummeting to £2bn, its lowest since 2009. Barclays downgraded Burberry, citing poor performance relative to other luxury retailers and doubts about its ability to maintain premium status due to pricing and strategic issues. CEO Jonathan Akeroyd was replaced by Joshua…
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