Covid-19
This coverage examines the effects of Covid-19 on the UK retail industry, focusing on operational disruption, financial pressures, consumer behaviour shifts, and recovery strategies. Reporting includes lockdown impacts, safety measures, supply chain challenges, online growth, and leadership decisions that shaped responses to the crisis. Designed for executives and managers, it offers lessons and insights for navigating future disruptions.
-
May- 2021 -4 MayHigh Street
Frasers Group to launch £60m share buyback scheme
Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has announced that it is set to commence a £60m shares buyback scheme commencing today (4 May 2021). Lasting until the end of the group’s financial year on 25 April 2021, the programme will see up to 10 million ordinary shares purchased at an aggregate price…
Read More » -
Apr- 2021 -30 AprilHealth & Beauty
Unilever Q1 sales rise 5.7%
Unilever has announced that its underlying sales growth (USG) represented a 5.7% year-on-year rise for the first quarter of FY21. However, turnover for the first quarter of FY21 was £10.7bn, a 0.9% year-on-year decrease due to a negative currency related impact of 8%. The spike in sales was underpinned by…
Read More » -
30 April
Amazon sees Q1 profits surge to $8.1bn
Amazon has revealed that net income soared to $8.1bn (£5.8bn) in its first quarter results, up from a net income of $2.5bn (£1.8bn) the year prior, as more customers turned to online shopping amid the global pandemic. In the same period, its net sales increased 44% to $108.5bn (£78bn) in…
Read More » -
30 AprilEconomy
One in seven retail units remain vacant, says BRC
Retail vacancies in the UK have increased across all shopping destinations, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Local Data Company’s (LDC) Vacancy Monitor. The trade association’s data revealed that one in seven of the country’s retail shops remain empty due to the pandemic. In the first quarter of…
Read More » -
29 AprilShopping Centres
Westfield owner sees Q1 shopping centre turnover drop 42.8%
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW), the owner of Westfield, saw a 30.1% year-on-year decline to £313.6m for its shopping centre revenues in Q1 2021. The group’s total turnover for the period fell 42.8% to £393.2m, as the company’s operations remained strongly impacted by ongoing Covid-19 restrictions. According to the group, the quarter saw…
Read More » -
29 AprilHigh Street
WH Smith launches fundraise to open 100 new travel stores
WH Smith has unveiled plans to open around 100 new travel stores after launching a £325 bond offering in convertible bonds, despite reporting losses in its half-year results. The group, which also secured a £250m revolving credit facility with an extended maturity to 2025, said the funds will aid the…
Read More » -
29 AprilClothing & Shoes
French Connection FY21 revenue drops 40.4%
French Connection saw its revenues plummet 40.4% year-on-year to £71.5m in the 12 months to 31 January 2021. The fashion retailer and wholesaler’s underlying losses for the period also expanded to £11.7m, from £2.9m the year before, as Covid-19 caused store closures and a reduction to wholesale demand. The group…
Read More » -
28 AprilSupermarkets
Sainsbury’s swings to £261m loss as Covid costs rise to £485m
Sainsbury’s has slumped to a pre-tax loss of £261m, down from a profit of £255m the year before, after it was hit by £485m in Covid-19 related costs during the full-year period ending 6 March 2021. Alongside the Covid-related costs, the group also attributed the loss to costs arising from…
Read More » -
28 AprilElectrical
Dixons Carphone to scrap airport shopping business
Dixons Carphone is set to close its airport shopping business, just months after the UK government announced plans to remove airside tax-free shopping. In a trading update, the electrical retailer said that it did not expect passenger numbers to “recover sufficiently” to compensate for the removal of the tax. This…
Read More » -
28 AprilAdvice
Unlocking the future of in-store shopping – with our phones
Amazon Fresh still seems surreal (at least for some shoppers, for whom it feels a bit too closely like theft!). It’s a relatively new concept in the UK, with just three Amazon stores live at time of writing. But everything else surrounding the Fresh concept is already second nature, and…
Read More »
