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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Jan- 2019 -30 January
January shop price inflation highest since 2013
Shop price inflation increased to 0.4% in January, up from 0.3% in December 2018 – the fourth consecutive month of price increases and the highest inflation rate since April 2013. According to the figures from the BRC-Nielsen shop price index, non-food deflation continued to decelerate, with prices falling by 0.3%…
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30 January
Mike Ashley and ScS in competition over Sofa.com
Both Mike Ashley and rival furniture retailer ScS have expressed interest in acquiring Sofa.com. ScS has confirmed via a statement its interest in Sofa.com which was put up for sale last month. It said: “The group confirms that ScS Group is in discussions regarding a potential acquisition of the business…
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30 January
B&Q found to have leaked details of 75,000 thieves
B&Q has been found to have leaked details of 75,000 shoplifters including vehicle descriptions and full names. The leak was found by security researcher Ctrlbox Information Security, which said the details were leaked on to the internet without password protection. The group said B&Q had removed the sensitive data and…
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30 January
Pets Corner opens 150th store as sales increase 4.7%
Pet product retailer Pets Corner opened its 150th store in Cobham, Surrey this month as it welcomed a 4.7% like-for-like sales increase in its first quarter. During October 2018 to December 2018, the retail chain’s EBITDA rose by 8% to £3.52m compared with the same period last year. Its in-house…
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29 January
M&Co to cut 59 head office jobs
Clothing retailer M&Co has announced it is to cut 59 jobs from its head offices in London and Inchinnan. The majority of redundancies are said to come from the retailer’s Inchinnan offices however it says it will also cut “four or five” roles from a workforce of 120 at its…
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29 January
Mike Ashley faces fine for late account filing of Mash Holdings
Mash Holdings, a company run by Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley, could be facing a fine as its accounts filings are six months late. The company’s filings were expected on the 23 July 2018 and have currently still not been submitted according to BBC news. As such the company could…
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28 January
Iceland tops customer satisfaction rating for second time
Iceland has been named as the “top supermarket for delivering customer satisfaction” for the second time in a row, according to new figures released by The Institute of Customer Service. According to the group, the retailer is the highest ranking supermarket scoring 83.2, sitting above the national average of 77.7,…
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28 January
Tesco refuses to deny 15,000 job losses
Tesco has refused to deny reports that it is to cut 15,000 jobs as part of an overhaul of its store operations in a £1.5bn cost cutting plan. A spokesperson refused to deny the reports, telling Retail Sector it was “always looking at ways to run our business more simply…
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28 January
Philip Green ends legal challenge against Telegraph
Sir Philip Green has ended his legal action against the Telegraph over its accusations of sexual harassment, bullying and racism made against him. The accusations, which Green denies, came to light when Lord Peter Hain named him in Parliament after an injunction had prevented the Telegraph from identifying the businessman…
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28 January
Online retail tax could be unlawful under EU rules, Treasury warns
The government has said taxing online giants, like Amazon, through a sales tax could be illegal under EU rules. Under European Union State aid rules it is illegal for EU countries to give financial advantage to some companies and not others in a way which could distort fair competition. The…
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