Coronavirus
This coverage analyses the impact of coronavirus on the UK retail industry, focusing on operational challenges, government measures, financial pressures, workforce management, and shifts in consumer behaviour. Reporting provides insights into how retailers responded to closures, safety protocols, supply chain disruptions, and evolving customer needs — helping executives and managers assess lessons learned and long-term changes.
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Apr- 2020 -30 AprilBusiness Bites
Coronavirus treatment hopes push stock markets up, and ‘Spoons to reopen in June
Investors are chirpy this morning amid hopes of a new coronavirus treatment that has been described as promising by the USA’s top infectious disease official, Dr Anthony Fauci. The experimental drug, called remdesivir, is produced by an American biopharmaceutical firm called Gilead Sciences, and is reckoned by US regulators to…
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30 AprilPeople Moves
BRC appoints Tony DeNunzio as new chairman
Tony DeNunzio CBE has been appointed as chairman elect of the British Retail Consortium (BRC). He will succeed Richard Pennycook whose tenure comes to an end on 20 May 2020. DeNunzio has over 25 years’ experience in the retail industry both in the UK and internationally. His experience covers the…
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30 AprilComment
Will coronavirus permanently change millennials and Gen Z retail habits?
Bushfires decimating Australia, the fraught finalising of Brexit, and a global virus pandemic – so far, 2020 has been a year of challenges. For the UK’s older teenagers, the already turbulent world around them has become even more uncertain. Any plans to begin higher education or full-time employment have been…
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29 AprilCoronavirus
Next warns of ‘faster and steeper’ hit to sales amid Covid-19 crisis
Retail giant Next has revealed the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on trading has been “faster and steeper” than anticipated as it reports a 41% plunge in full-price sales in its first quarter results. In the period from 26 January to 25 April, Next reported a 52% fall in high…
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28 AprilBusiness Bites
Job support to be wound down, M&S dividend suspended, ventilator production slows, property market halts
Chancellor Rishi Sunack says he will wean the economy off his support schemes in a “gradual” wind-down, to help prevent soaring unemployment on ‘expiration day’. His announcement, made to MPs, came in response to concerns that a definite cut-off date would produce an explosion in redundancies and layoffs. Currently, the…
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28 AprilCoronavirus
Tesco begins laying off some of its 45,000 temporary workers
Supermarket giant Tesco has reportedly begun laying off some of the 45,000 temporary workers it hired to help meet the surge in demand during the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak. According to the Telegraph, some of the job cuts have come earlier than expected with temporary staff in one store…
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28 AprilComment
Furlough – what next?
The Government’s Job Retention Scheme was set up urgently to support employers and protect employees during lockdown. Such state intervention, unprecedented in the UK, is designed to facilitate a quick rebound of the economy once business activity resumes. But as the crisis drags on, the lockdown has already been extended…
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28 AprilCoronavirus
UK economy not expected to recover until 2023, study suggests
The UK’s economy is not expected to return to normal until 2023 due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report issued by economic forecasting group EY Item Club. The group has warned that it is likely to take three years for the UK economy to return to the…
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27 AprilCoronavirus
Chancellor announces 100% guarantee on small business loans
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced the launch of a new ‘bounce back’ emergency loan scheme for small businesses, which will offer 100% guarantees on emergency loans. Today (27 April) Sunak told the House of Commons that the scheme would begin next week, offering SMEs loans of up to £50,000. The…
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27 AprilBusiness Bites
Lockdown to persist says Johnson, clergy weigh in on behaviour of corona-corporations
The PM is back at his desk and says the lockdown must continue for the foreseeable future, and it would be premature to consider lifting now. After having been struck down with COVID-19 himself – and ending up in intensive care – the premier has finally convalesced and spoke from…
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