Year: 2019

Retail employment falls 2.3%, 14th consecutive quarter of decline

Retail employment has fallen by 2.3% during the three-month period ending 30 June, marking the 14th consecutive month of decline. According to the figures from the BRC, the decline is equivalent to around 72,000 more jobs lost than compared to the same period last year. Full-time employment also saw a…

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A possible antidote to next-day delivery?

If you’re a retailer, you’ll know all too well that deliveries go way deeper than simply making sure your products make their way to customers in one piece. We’re talking Grand Canyon deep, here. Because deliveries are a battlefield like no other in the digital commerce world. While increased customer…

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Tesco removes plastic carrier bags from online deliveries

Tesco will stop using carrier bags to deliver groceries from its online business as part of its work to use less plastic. The move will mean that 250 million fewer carrier bags will be delivered to customers’ homes each year and nearly two thousand tonnes of plastic will come out…

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CMA launches probe of JD Sports’ acquisition of Footasylum

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has begun its inquiry into JD Sports’ acquisition of footwear retailer, Footasylum. Phase 1 of the inquiry, will look to determine if the takeover could result in “a substantial lessening of competition in any market”. The CMA also said it has “reasonable grounds” for…

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M&S announces latest store closure

Marks and Spencer has revealed its latest store set to close under its restructuring plan. As part of its plan to axe 85 full-line stores and 25 of its Simply Food outlets as it targets a return to profitable growth, the food and homeware retailer announced its Dorchester store, located…

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Wyevale to sell sale six more centres to Blue Diamond

Wyevale Garden Centres (WGC) has announced the sale of six centres to Blue Diamond, following the sale of nine centres to the operator in July and August 2018. Blue Diamond owns 36 centres, includes the sites at Blooms Worcester, Canterbury Chartham, Hereford, Lower Morden, Rake and Tunbridge Wells. All sites…

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Card Factory appoints former Tesco boss as CCO

Card Factory has announced the appointment of Adam Dury as chief commercial officer, effective 26 August 2019. According to the retailer, Dury has “extensive” experience in the retail industry having worked for Tesco for 14 years in a number of roles including most recently, category director of home, seasonal and…

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B&M revenues surge during first quarter

Discount retailer B&M has posted a revenue growth of 13.8 in Q1. Revenue relating to the period from 31 March 2019 to 29 June 2019 was £738.9m, compared with £649.2m for the same period last year. Group revenue, which includes brands Heron Foods, Jawoll and Babou increased by 21.4% to…

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Grocery spend falls despite the start of summer weather

Total grocery sales fell by -0.5% in the last four weeks, despite the start of warm summer weather at the end of last month and sporting events in the UK. Shoppers also spent less per visit compared with the same period last year, according to the data released by Nielsen.…

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How Chinese consumers meet ‘Brand Britain’

Francis Fukayama is most famous for writing ‘The End of History’ at a time when history was just re-starting but in 1995 he wrote another book called ´Trust’, which I think is more important. It describes how trust glues a country together and talks of China as a low-trust culture…

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