Year: 2019

Schuh pre-tax profits fall by £7m amid ‘extremely challenging year’

Schuh has reported a £7m fall in pre-tax profits to £6.1m attributed to a second consecutive year of “extremely challenging” conditions for retail, according to accounts filed at Companies House this week. For the year ending January 2019, the footwear retailer reported fall in turnover by over £20m to £288.4m…

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Treasury Committee urges MPs to reform ‘broken’ business rates

The government has been urged to fix the “broken” business rates system as it is continuing to affect high street retailers, a Treasury committee has said. An influential group of MPs has asked the government to examine alternatives to property tax, which puts more pressure on high street retailers than…

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Shop prices decrease again in October

Shop price deflation decelerated to 0.4% in October from -0.6% in September, according to new figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC). The results are below the 12- and six-month average price changes of 0.2% and -0.2%, respectively. Additionally, non-Food deflation decelerated to 1.5% in October, from -1.7% in September,…

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What retailers can learn from the success of Downton Abbey

The film adaptation of the award-winning period drama, Downton Abbey, made its highly anticipated debut in cinemas recently. The film, which follows the lives of Downton Abbey’s well-loved residents – the Crawley family and its household staff – has currently amassed £27.3m, topping the cinema box office at home in…

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Next Q3 sales affected by ‘unusually’ warm weather

Fashion retailer Next has reported a 6.3% decrease in retail sales for the three months to 26 October. The drop in sales was attributed to the group’s September trading, which was “adversely” affected by unusually warm weather. Additionally, it said “strong” sales in July pulled forward sales from August. Despite…

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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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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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Can intelligent retail improve the shopping experience?

You would be hard pressed to find a retailer who doesn’t want greater insight into what is happening within its stores and warehouses – and why it’s happening. Perhaps that’s why Zebra’s 2019 Intelligent Enterprise Index revealed a record number of retailers accelerating their efforts to become ‘intelligent.’ According to…

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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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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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