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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Mar- 2025 -14 March
Aldi signs Armed Forces Covenant to support ex-military workers
Aldi has become a signatory of the Armed Forces covenant, highlighting its commitment to “uphold respect and fairness” for ex-military workers and their families. The covenant emphasises Aldi’s support for former military personnel, with the UK’s fourth largest supermarket offering initiatives to help recognise and support them within the business. …
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13 March
Today’s news in brief-13/3/25
John Lewis Partnership has announced that its staff will not receive a bonus for the third consecutive year, despite tripling its full-year profits from £42m to £126m. Instead, the company is investing £114m into staff pay, building on a £116m increase in 2024, and up to £600m in business transformation.…
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13 March
Fossil group appoints new CFO
Fossil Group has announced the appointment of Randy Greben as the new chief financial officer effective from 17 March. Greben will oversee Fossil Group’s global financial strategy, focusing on leading the organisation’s financial turnaround and business transformation. With more than two decades of financial leadership experience, he brings a strong…
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13 March
Pets at Home puts 2,500 jobs under consultation to ‘simplify business’
Pets at Home has confirmed that it has put 2,500 jobs under consultation as it looks to streamline its store management. The company revealed that it is considering moving from three staff levels to two, pets colleagues and a new pets customer expert role. Alongside this, the company is also…
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13 March
Hobbycraft owner eyes potential restructuring
Hobbycraft owner, Modella Capital, has reportedly enlisted advisers from FRP to explore a restructuring at the crafts chain, Sky News has reported. Modella, which acquired the retailer seven months ago, is examining its options such as a company voluntary arrangement (CVA). CVAs, which are frequently used to facilitate store closures…
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13 March
DFS Furniture profits surge to £17.0m in H1 FY25
DFS Furniture Group has seen its underlying profit performance, uPBT(A) almost doubled to £17m in H1 FY25 (H1 FY24: £8.7m), despite a relatively flat growth in revenues of 0.1% to £504.5m. For the 26 week period ended 29 December 2024, the group’s gross sales were also up 1.4% to £675.6m…
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13 March
John Lewis staff miss out on bonus despite tripled profits
The John Lewis Partnership has confirmed its staff will not receive a bonus for the third year in a row, despite full-year profits tripling from £42m to £126m, with the group instead focusing on investment into employee pay. For the year ended 25 January 2025, overall sales rose by 3%…
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12 March
Today’s news in brief-12/3/25
Inditex, the parent company of Zara, reported a strong financial performance for FY24, with sales rising by 10.5% to €38.6bn and profit-before-tax increasing by 10.3% to €7.6bn. The company achieved these results with 2.0% more commercial space and 2.3% fewer stores compared to 2023, reflecting its ongoing store optimization and…
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12 March
Sophie Ellis-Bextor partnership helps boost Freemans Q4 sales
Online department store Freemans has revealed its partnership with pop star Sophie Ellis-Bextor helped boost its sales 13% during the 13 weeks to 20 December 2024. It comes as its total fashion sales were up +5% and home and living category +18% over the same period. Meanwhile its Christmas sales,…
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12 March
Zara owner Inditex sees sales and profits surge in FY24
Inditex, the owner of Zara, has hailed its “robust” full-year performance after sales rose by 10.5% to €38.6bn (£32.5bn) in 2024, following “very satisfactory” trading both in stores and online.The group, which also owns brands including Pull and Bear and Bershka, reported profit-before-tax rose by 10.3% to €7.6bn (£6.4bn) while…
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