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- 2019 -22 March
Travis Perkins appoints new COO amid plans to simplify business
Building materials retailer, Travis Perkins, has appointed Frank Elkins as its new chief operating officer for the group’s trade merchant business. The operations which Elkins will oversee include Travis Perkins builders merchants, BSS, Benchmarx, Keyline and CCF, which generate more than £3.6bn in annual revenue combined and have a branch…
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22 March
Retail sales bounce back in February
Retail sales have bounced back slightly February 2019, as the quantity bought increased by 0.4% during the month. In the three months to February 2019, the quantity bought increased by 0.7% when compared with the previous three months, with strong growth in non-store retailing and fuel. Year-on-year growth in the…
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22 March
Crime cost retailers £1.9bn last year
The British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) annual Retail Crime Survey has revealed the total cost of crime and crime prevention for retailers was £1.9bn last year. This was up 12% from the previous year (£1.7bn) and was made up of £900m direct cost from retail crime, and £1bn spent in efforts…
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22 March
Debenhams secures £200m lifeline
Embattled department store Debenhams has confirmed it has secured a £200m refinancing lifeline. The funding is expected to “provide liquidity headroom” for its future funding needs and “deliver stability for its customers, staff, suppliers and pension holders”. Earlier this month, the company said it was considering a £150m cash injection…
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21 March
Carphone Warehouse rebuked over ‘Cyber Monday’ promotion
Carphone Warehouse has been rebuked by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over an iPhone promotion. Four complainants who had attempted to take up the offer which stated “Apple iPhone XR £36.00 P/M free handset 100GB data cyber monday”, and were later told their order could not be processed, challenged whether…
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21 March
Next sees profits dip as store sales continue to fall
Next has announced a dip in its annual profits as the decline of its physical store sales continues. The fashion retailer’s pre-tax profits for the year to January were in line with expectations at £722.9m, a fall of 0.4%, this was attributed to store sales decreasing by 8% from…
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21 March
Ted Baker profits plunge 26% in 2018
Fashion retailer Ted Baker has reported a 26.1% drop in pre-tax profit to £50.9m for the year ending 26 January 2019, compared with £68.8m the previous year. In February, the retailer issued a profit warning and said profits had been “adversely affected” by three non-cash impacts, including: Foreign exchange movements…
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21 March
Retailers left waiting for rates discounts as deadline approaches
Businesses in England were promised millions of pounds in support by the chancellor last October but, less than two weeks before the start of the new tax year on 1 April, many are still either waiting for discounts worth up to £8,000 or haven’t yet applied. The government announced a…
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20 March
Kingfisher boss to depart amid falling profits
DIY retailer Kingfisher has announced its CEO is to step down on the same day it revealed profits for the year had plummeted 13% to £693m. Veronqiue Laury, who had been overseeing the turnaround plan of the company which owns B&Q and Screwfix, will leave the company although no date…
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20 March
Sainsbury’s and Asda pledge £1bn in price cuts
Sainsbury’s and Asda have announced plans to deliver £1bn of lower prices annually by the third year after its proposed merger. It comes after The Competitions and Market Authority (CMA) said it had provisionally found “extensive competition concerns” over the merger, and said that prices could rise at a large…
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