Year: 2019
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Mar- 2019 -12 MarchGovernment
Digital Services Tax extended to include 2% ‘Amazon tax’
High streets government minister, Jake Berry, has promised to extend the Digital Services Tax to include a “2% tax on online retail” to save Britain’s high streets. Berry confirmed that the tax, announced at last October’s Autumn Budget, would be extended to online retailers saying if the government cannot secure…
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11 MarchAdvice
Delivering ROI in B2B e-commerce
The importance of e-commerce in the B2B landscape is growing exponentially. In the past, digital commerce used to be an afterthought for wholesalers but it is now the dominant sales channel for B2B vendors. In fact, research from Forrester found that 54% of these businesses deem their website to be…
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11 MarchHigh Street
Feb footfall signals 15th month of decline
Footfall fell by 2% in February, a significant decline compared with the previous year, when it fell by 0.2%, and marks the fifteenth consecutive month of decline. According to the BRC’s figures it was also the weakest February in five years. High street footfall was found to have declined by 1.9%, marking seven consecutive months of weakening…
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11 MarchClothing & Shoes
Liam Gallagher’s Pretty Green calls in advisors
Liam Gallagher’s Pretty Green fashion brand has called in advisors Moorfields Advisory to oversee a strategic review of the company’s business. According to reports by Drapers options under consideration include a possible sale, with a source telling the website Pretty Green was hit “really badly” when House of Fraser’s website…
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11 MarchDepartment Stores
Debenhams in talks to secure £150m lifeline
Embattled department store Debenhams has confirmed it is in “advanced negotiations” to secure £150m funding from its lenders just a week after it issued another profit warning. The company saw a drop in sales for the half year to 2 March, leading it to say the profit expectations it announced…
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8 MarchClothing & Shoes
Primark to move 220 roles to Dublin
Primark has announced it will be moving its product operations from Reading to Dublin with 220 staff being told they can either agree to relocate or risk redundancy. The buying, sourcing, quality control, design and merchandising operations departments are currently split between the two cities but the retailer wants to…
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8 MarchSupermarkets
Waitrose to close five stores affecting 440 jobs
Waitrose has announced it is to close five stores affecting 440 jobs, following a 45% decline in annual profit at operator John Lewis. The stores to close will be Torquay, Teignmouth, Blaby in Leicestershire, Barry in Vale of Glamorgan, and Ashbourne in Derbyshire. Grocery delivery firm Ocado recently dropped Waitrose…
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8 MarchDepartment Stores
Mike Ashley moves to take control of Debenhams
Mike Ashley has announced plans to remove all the directors at Debenhams, except Rachel Osborne who was appointed in September, and appoint himself to the board in an executive role. Ashley, who holds a 30% stake in the department store chain, pledged in a stock exchange announcement on Thursday evening…
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8 MarchAdvice
Women in retail – advice from a female store manager
When it comes to the boardroom, retail may still be a male-dominated world, but there have been a lot of positive changes in recent times in this regard. I’ve worked in a variety of retail roles at Sofology over the course of the past eight years, progressing to my current…
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8 MarchEconomy
Worst February in a decade for retailers, says BDO
High street retailers suffered the worst February in a decade for in-store sales, according to figures from BDO’s latest High Street Sales Tracker (HSST). According to the accountancy and business advisory firm, in-store like-for-like sales dropped -3.7% this month from a “poor base of” -1.6% for February last year. Additionally,…
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