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.
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Mar- 2020 -13 MarchOnline & Digital
Amazon tells employees to work from home
Amazon has told all of its employees to work from home for the rest of March amid the coronavirus outbreak. Speaking to CNBC, the retail giant said it is now encouraging all employees who can work from home to do so, in order to enforce social distancing and “lessen the…
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12 MarchClothing & Shoes
Adidas and Puma Chinese sales hit by coronavirus outbreak
Sportswear retailer Adidas has warned sales in its first quarter of its financial year would decrease as much as €1bn (£870) in Greater China, amid the recent impact of the coronavirus. Adidas reported sales would be down by about €100m (£88m) in Japan and South Korea, which will result in…
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12 MarchHigh Street
Covid-19 could knock £130m from sales, says WH Smith
WH Smith expects that full-year results will see an ‘adverse impact’ from the effects of coronavirus, with up to £130m being wiped from its revenue. In its latest update, the stationary group predicted an impact between £100m and £130m on group revenue, while underlying profit before tax can expect a…
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11 MarchBusiness Bites
ROUNDUP: Business rates holiday announced by chancellor Sunak
In his maiden budget, the new chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has announced a £30bn fiscal stimulus package to help combat the impact of coronavirus on the British economy including a one-year total suspension of business rates for small retail, leisure and hospitality businesses. Headline measures include: A £12bn plan to provide…
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11 MarchEconomy
Bank of England cuts interest rates to help combat coronavirus impact
The Bank of England has cut UK interest rates back down to the lowest level in history to help mitigate the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the economy. The governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, announced the 50 basis point (0.5 percentage point) reduction, from 0.75% to…
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10 MarchAnalysis
Banks to help us all out with coronavirus fallout
Once again the business pages on all major news outlets are pretty much dominated by the developing story of coronavirus – every sector has some kind of tale to tell. So here is the roundup from today. RBS said it will allow mortgage holidays for people who are forced to…
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10 MarchHigh Street
Calls for ‘discretionary business rates relief’ amid Coronavirus outbreak
Colliers International has called on the UK Government to consider and to fund a system of “discretionary rate relief” for businesses impacted by the Coronavirus. The commercial real estate company said this is one of the measures that could “alleviate business pain” in this week’s Budget. It added that against…
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10 MarchClothing & Shoes
French Connection posts £3m loss as it warns of continued tough trading
French Connection has revealed it has swung to a £2.9m loss for the full-year period ending 31 January 2020 and has warned of “continued difficult trading conditions”. The underlying loss comes after a restated underlying profit of £0.8m the previous year. Group revenue was also down 11.4% to £119.9m compared…
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10 MarchHigh Street
DFS sales slide amid ‘challenging’ conditions
DFS has announced that its group revenue fell by 5.7% to £488m in the half-year period ended 29 December 2019. The furniture retailer said that such results were “as expected” against a “strong” comparative period, however, which was bolstered by “latent demand” and a higher opening order book. Meanwhile, gross…
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9 MarchHigh Street
Footfall slides in February
Hopes for a stronger footfall were “washed away” last month, according to the latest footfall monitor released by Springboard. The retail data group said that high street footfall fell by 7.8% in February, highlighting “the fragility of the high street”. Shopping centre footfall fell by 2.5%, while retail parks saw…
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