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 -25 January
Smiggle to hold talks over rent reductions following poor trading experience
Australian stationer, Smiggle, is to hold talks over rent reductions following reports that some stores were not meeting expectations. In 2014, the retailer began a mass expansion in the UK and currently operates 130 stores nationwide. A source close to the retailer told Property Week that it had been “fully…
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25 January
Clothing manufacturers are failing to pay minimum wage, inquiry finds
British clothing manufacturers have been forced to pay almost £90,000 to employees for non-payment of minimum wage, following an HMRC investigation. Data from HMRC, sent to the Environmental Audit Committee as part of its inquiry into the sustainability of the fashion industry found that a 126 workers were underpaid over…
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25 January
Bonmarché sales slide 11.1% over Christmas
Fashion retailer Bonmarché has reported a 11.1% drop in like-for-like sales over the Christmas trading period, ending 29 December 2018. Total sales declined by 8.1% during the period, however the group recorded a 22.2% increase in online sales, although at a lower rate than in the first half of the…
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25 January
L’occitane launches same day delivery across UK
French beauty retailer L’occitane has partnered with retail delivery startup On The Dot to launch its same day delivery service proposition ‘Ship From Store’ across the UK. The service has launched in London and there are plans to it extend across the remaining 86 UK stores in early 2019. On…
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24 January
Man charged after digger smashes through Spar shop front
A Scottish man has been charged after a digger was driven through the shop front of a Spar convenience store in the town of Keith, in Moray. The incident took place at 03:35 last Saturday morning (19 January), throwing debris across the town’s Regent Street. Police said “significant damage” had…
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24 January
Around 70,000 retail jobs lost in Q4, report finds
The total number of employees working in retail was down 2.2%, equivalent to around 70,000 jobs, on Q4 2017 an industry report has found. The British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) Retail Employment Monitor also found that reductions in hours similar for full-time and part-time contracts as total hours fell by 2.8%.…
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24 January
Retail spending bounces back in December despite ‘tough’ festive period
Retail spending bounced back in the UK in December 2018 after a tough November as GlobalData’s total retail index rose by 11.5 points versus the previous month. The company’s latest report ‘UK Monthly Spend Tracker – December’ revealed that despite improved spending in the month, many retailers started their sales…
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24 January
John Lewis to close Knight & Lee in Southsea; 127 jobs at risk
John Lewis & Partners has announced it will close its Knight & Lee store in Southsea in July 2019, putting all 127 staff at risk of redundancy. According to the group, the decision to close the property has been “driven by a number of factors”, including the physical condition, size,…
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23 January
Carl Rogberg becomes third ex-Tesco executive cleared of fraud
Former Tesco executive, Carl Rogberg, has been cleared of £250m fraud and false accounting charges, which sent the supermarket into financial crisis. Rogberg, the former finance director at Tesco, was cleared at Southwark Crown Court this morning (23 January) of the charges which wiped £15bn off of Tesco’s share price…
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23 January
December online retail sales growth hits ‘all-time low’
UK online retail sales growth hit an “all-time low” of just +3.6% year-on-year (YoY) in December 2018 after a tough Christmas trading period, according to the Capgemini IMRG eRetail Sales Index. According to the group, after online retail “defied” the downturn on the high street to record +16% (YoY) growth…
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