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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Oct- 2019 -30 October
Sports Direct: CMA published ‘inaccurate’ market data in Footasylum probe
Sports Direct has claimed the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published “inaccurate estimates” of its market share data during its investigation into of competitors JD Sports’ £90m takeover of Footasylum. In a statement published on the London Stock Exchange, Sports Direct said it had noted that during the CMA’s…
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30 October
Barbour appoints Nicola Brown as head of womenswear
British fashion retailer Barbour has appointed Hobb’s head of design, Nicola Brown, as its new head of womenswear. She will join the brand on 9 December, according to Drapers. Brown joined the team at Hobbs in 2011, as senior womenswear designer, before being promoted in 2016 as head of design.…
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29 October
Boots Q4 sales slip amid ‘challenging’ retail market
Health and beauty retailer Boots has reported a 2.1% decrease in sales in its fourth-quarter results, ending 31 August 2019. The retailer, which is owned by Walgreens Boots Alliance, also reported a 2.7% decrease in retail sales on a constant currency basis, attributing the decline to a retail market that…
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29 October
Sales and footfall up at Westfield’s UK centres
The owner of the Westfield shopping centres, Unibail-Rodamco (URM), has reported a 5.2% increase in tenant sales at its UK centres during Q3, also reporting a spike in footfall. For the three month period ending 30 September 2019, URM reported a 3.9% increase in footfall at its Westfield Stratford and…
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29 October
Retailers report ‘record high’ stock levels in October
Retailers’ stock levels in relation to expected sales were at their highest on record in October, according to the latest monthly CBI Distributive Trends Survey. The news comes against the backdrop of a continuing decline in sales on the high street, and the latest spike in stock adequacy (the highest…
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29 October
Sosander shares jump as revenues surge 53%
Shares in Sosander PLC jumped 12 % in early trading on Monday (28 October) as the retailer reported a strong first-half revenue growth of 53%. For the half-year period ending 30 September 2019, Sosander posted an 84% increase in sales during its second quarter and 112% increase in September alone.…
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28 October
Mothercare appoints KPMG as advisers
Mothercare has appointed ‘Big Four’ accountancy firm KPMG as advisers to help assess its options for its embattled retail business. According to the Times, the decision comes as its chief executive Mark Newton-Jones has previously outlined plans to shift the UK side of the business into an independent franchise model,…
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28 October
Arcadia to move Topshop logistics to Daventry warehouse
Sir Phillip Green is allegedly moving Topshop and Topman’s logistics to Daventey distribution centre Arcadia announced over the summer that Topman was already being fulfilled from the new Daventry distribution centre, with plans to make Topshop live from the site in early 2020 Earlier this year, Arcadia opened a new…
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28 October
Forever 21 to shutter all UK stores next year
Fashion retailer Forever 21 has confirmed it will close its three UK stores in London, Liverpool and Birmingham next year. It comes after the parent company in the US filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Damian Webb and Allan Kelly of RSM Restructuring Advisory LLP were appointed as joint administrators…
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25 October
Robots could take half a million UK retail jobs within the next five years
UK retail is set to lose over half a million jobs to robots, according to the 2019 Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO Survey. According to the study, the move towards automating the retail sector is being “driven from the top”, with almost half (44%) of IT leaders reporting that using automation to…
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