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 -11 March
Bank of England cuts interest rates to help combat coronavirus impact
The Bank of England has cut UK interest rates back down to the lowest level in history to help mitigate the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the economy. The governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, announced the 50 basis point (0.5 percentage point) reduction, from 0.75% to…
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11 March
B&M completes £11m disposal of German business
B&M European Value Retail has announced the completion of its German business disposal following a strategic review of the business. The group’s 80% controlling stake in the business was sold for €12.5m (£10.8 m) to a purchasing consortium led by AC Curtis Salta. The consortium also includes Wiebke Stern, Sebastian…
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10 March
Calls for ‘discretionary business rates relief’ amid Coronavirus outbreak
Colliers International has called on the UK Government to consider and to fund a system of “discretionary rate relief” for businesses impacted by the Coronavirus. The commercial real estate company said this is one of the measures that could “alleviate business pain” in this week’s Budget. It added that against…
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10 March
Stella McCartney reports £11m loss
Fashion retailer Stella McCartney has reported an £11m loss in pre-tax profit for its full-year results, attributed to flat sales and a significant increase to its costs. For the year ended 31 December 2018, the British fashion brand reported a 219% decrease in operating profit to £10.8m compared with £9.1m…
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10 March
French Connection posts £3m loss as it warns of continued tough trading
French Connection has revealed it has swung to a £2.9m loss for the full-year period ending 31 January 2020 and has warned of “continued difficult trading conditions”. The underlying loss comes after a restated underlying profit of £0.8m the previous year. Group revenue was also down 11.4% to £119.9m compared…
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10 March
DFS sales slide amid ‘challenging’ conditions
DFS has announced that its group revenue fell by 5.7% to £488m in the half-year period ended 29 December 2019. The furniture retailer said that such results were “as expected” against a “strong” comparative period, however, which was bolstered by “latent demand” and a higher opening order book. Meanwhile, gross…
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9 March
18,000 retail jobs lost in last two months
Almost 18,248 retail jobs have been lost in the past two months, with 1,211 shops also shuttered since the turn of the decade, according to the Centre for Retail Research (CRR). The research firm said retail premises in England are also set be “denied” a further £100m in tax reductions…
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9 March
Reiss sales rise 21.9% in full-year results
Fashion retailer Reiss has reported a 21.9% increase in sales to £227.4m in 2019, compared with £186.5m in 2018. For the year ended 1 February 2020, Reiss reported a 51.6% increase in EBITDA to £29.3m compared with £19.3m in 2018, while full-year like-for-like sales increased by 21.6%. Meanwhile, like-for-like sales…
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9 March
Tesco to sell Thai and Malaysian divisions in £8bn deal
UK supermarket giant Tesco has agreed a deal to sell its Asian operations in Thailand and Malaysia in a £8bn deal. The portfolio of over 2,000 stores under the Tesco and Lotus brands has been acquired by Thai conglomerate CP Group. The board of Tesco said it intends to return…
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9 March
Footfall slides in February
Hopes for a stronger footfall were “washed away” last month, according to the latest footfall monitor released by Springboard. The retail data group said that high street footfall fell by 7.8% in February, highlighting “the fragility of the high street”. Shopping centre footfall fell by 2.5%, while retail parks saw…
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