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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Mar- 2020 -31 March
Consumer confidence slips in March
Consumer confidence in the UK decreased by two points to -9, according to the latest figures from the GfK. Within the group’s consumer confidence index, one measure increased, three measures decreased, and one measure remained the same in the month of March. The personal finance situation index for the last…
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30 March
The minimum wage increase is about to hit – and it beggars belief
As if to bang the final nail into the coffin himself, we can only assume the Treasury’s top man, chancellor Rishi Sunak, refuses to give ground on the next wave to crash over the retail and hospitality industries. I am talking of course about the increase in the National Minimum…
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30 March
BrightHouse collapses, 2,400 jobs at risk
BrightHouse has collapsed into administration, placing 2,400 jobs “at serious risk”. The rent-to-own home furnishings brand has now called in Grant Thornton as administrators following a period of poor trading amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. According to the BBC, Julie Palmer, from corporate recovery business Begbies Traynor, said that the…
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30 March
UK GDP expected to contract by 15% in Q2 2020
The UK economy is about to enter the deepest recession since the financial crisis, including the steepest quarter-on-quarter decline in economic activity since comparable records began, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR). CEBR expects the economy to have contracted marginally in the first quarter of the…
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30 March
Government relaxes insolvency rules
The government has announced a set of changes to help improve the insolvency system to enable companies undergoing restructuring to continue trading. The relaxed measures announced by business secretary Alok Sharma, will allow companies undergoing restructuring to continue to access supplies and raw materials. It has also temporarily suspended wrongful…
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30 March
Hammerson suspends dividend after collecting just 37% of Q2 rent
Shopping centre owner Hammerson has revealed it collected only 37% of its Q2 rent bill and has suspended its dividend amid the coronavirus outbreak. In a trading update released this morning (30 March), Hammerson said that with figures adjusted for rent deferred, switched to monthly payment, and a nominal proportion…
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30 March
Beaverbrooks closes website and warehouse operations
Beaverbrooks has closed its website and warehouse operations until further notice. Anna Blackburn, managing director at Beaverbrooks, said the company made the “difficult decision” to close its website and warehouse operations to “protect” its colleagues, their families and the wider community. She added: “As a family owned business, the safety…
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30 March
Ted Baker appoints Rachel Osbourne as new CEO amid Covid-19 crisis
Lifestyle brand Ted Baker has today announced the appointment of Rachel Osbourne as its new CEO amid the Covid-19 crisis. Osbourne , whose appointment will be effective immediately, has more than 20 years’ of relevant brand and retail sector experience. She joined Ted Baker as chief financial officer in November…
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30 March
Boots and Amazon boost Covid-19 testing for NHS staff
Boots and Amazon are among the retailers who have been called on by the government to help boost testing capacity for frontline NHS staff. It comes as dozens of universities, research institutes and companies across Britain are lending their testing equipment to three new hub laboratories which will be set…
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28 March
Brighthouse set to call in administrators
Rent-to-own home furnishings brand Brighthouse is reportedly set to call in administrators, placing around 2,400 jobs at risk. According to the BBC, it comes after an increase in compensation claims for selling to people who could not repay due to the coronavirus outbreak. Brighthouse is thought to be the largest…
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