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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Feb- 2024 -28 February
UK’s largest retailers ‘greener but less focused on DE&I’, study finds
The UK’s largest retailers are stepping up their efforts to become greener but losing focus on diversity and inclusion initiatives and cyber security, national law firm Irwin Mitchell’s new Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) report has revealed. Irwin Mitchell has analysed the annual reports of the retailers in the FTSE…
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28 February
Halfords issues profit warning as core markets weaken
Halfords has announced that it now expects its full year PBT to be in the range of £35-40m, down from the £48m and £53m it previously expected. This comes as a result of three of the company’s four core markets weakening resulting in a significant drop in like-for-like revenue growth.…
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28 February
68% of SMEs feel more positive about business growth, survey finds
Some 68% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are feeling more positive about their business growth opportunities when compared to last year, according to Alibaba.com’s B2B Sentiment Survey. According to the survey, which had more than 500 SMEs participate across the country, found that of this 68%, 19% described their…
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27 February
Today’s news in brief-27/2/24
Shop price inflation reached its lowest level since March 2022, dropping to 2.5% in February, according to new figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC). This decline was attributed to easing input costs for energy and fertilisers, resulting in lower food prices. However, non-food inflation remained stable, with clothing prices…
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27 February
Asos relaunches influencer programme
Asos has relaunched its Asos Insider influencer programme after the initiative was previously wound down in 2020 due to the pandemic. The online retailer said the programme will allow fashion and style influencers from across Asos to “offer customers inspiration, beauty, fashion, and style advice across social channels”. The reintroduction…
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27 February
Asda’s mean Gender Pay difference hits 6.6%
Asda has today (27 February) published its 2023 Gender Pay figures, confirming that the mean pay difference between all male and female workers is 6.6%. In a report submitted to the Government’s Gender Pay website, the supermarket also revealed that the median pay difference between all male and female colleagues…
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27 February
M&S invests record £89m in boosting staff pay
M&S has today (27 February) announced a record £89m investment in its retail pay offer, and a further £5m annual investment to enhance its maternity, paternity, and adoption policies. From 1 April, the rate of pay for UK customer assistants will increase from £10.90 to £12 per hour, representing a…
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27 February
Grocery sales jump 5% as food price inflation falls
Total grocery sales increased 5.1% to £35.3bn for the four weeks to 18 February 2024, as grocery price inflation fell 5.3%, marking the lowest rate since March 2022, according to the marketing data and analytics company Kantar. February also saw a return to indulgence for some consumers as dry January…
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27 February
Morrisons hires advisors as it eyes sale of bakery business
Morrisons has reportedly drafted in advisers to explore the potential sale of its bakery business, as part of plans to offload assets in order to pay down its debts. According to The Telegraph, the supermarket is now working with Deloitte to explore potential interest in Rathbones bakery, which supplies baked…
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27 February
Homebase owner eyes second sale in four years
Hilco Capital has reportedly put Homebase up for sale for the second time in four years after acquiring the business for £1 in 2018. According to reports from The Times, Hilco has already sounded out potential buyers such as B&M and The Range. Hilco originally acquired Homebase from Australian firm…
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