Economic Growth
This coverage reviews UK economic growth trends and their impact on the retail sector, focusing on consumer spending, GDP indicators, inflation, and regional performance. Reporting examines how macroeconomic shifts shape retail investment, pricing strategies, and store expansion decisions—offering insights for retail executives, CFOs, and business leaders navigating market cycles and strategic planning.
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Feb- 2021 -3 FebruaryEconomy
13,000 Scottish retail jobs were lost before Covid-19, SRC reveals
13,000 Scottish retail jobs were lost between 2016-2018, a new paper by the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) reveals. The report entitled ‘Road to Retail Recovery’ also found that £3.48bn in annual turnover was lost from the industry between 2014-18; figures which are likely to “severely worsen” when the full account…
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Jan- 2021 -15 JanuaryEconomy
UK GDP shrinks by 2.6%
GDP declined by 2.6% in November 2020 as government restrictions reduced economic activity, the latest ONS figures reveal. Figures released by the statistics office show that November GDP was 8.5% below its pre-pandemic levels. The decline follows a period of economic growth for the UK, with last October’s report revealing…
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Sep- 2020 -14 SeptemberFeatures
Behind the headline figures: Four reasons for optimism for retailers
The latest retail figures are showing signs of real encouragement for retailers. Retail sales volumes rose a better-than-expected 3.6% in July and are now above pre-pandemic levels. Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that sales rose 2% ahead of a 0.2% prediction by economists, and this was on…
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Aug- 2020 -24 AugustEconomy
Record economic growth anticipated for Q3
The UK is reportedly on track for a record economic resurgence during the third quarter of the year, following sharp declines in GDP at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in Q2. According to the Financial Times (FT), City of London economists have predicted a 14.3% rise in GDP for…
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11 AugustCoronavirus
Retail sales rise for second month in a row
Total sales increased by 3.2% in July, against an increase of 0.5% in July 2019, marking the second consecutive month of growth since the start of the pandemic. According to the latest BRC-KPMG retail sales monitor, UK retail sales increased by 4.3% in the month against the year prior, following…
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Mar- 2020 -26 MarchComment
Preventing inevitable recession from becoming depression
The global economy is heading into a recession, initially at least a pretty severe one. The measures introduced by governments in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus are having a dramatic effect on huge swathes of economic activity. There is the direct loss of output and employment…
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24 MarchEconomy
Covid-19 brings UK economy to temporary standstill, says KPMG
The impact of the Covid-19 virus is expected to see the UK economy contract by 2.6% in 2020, according to KPMG UK’s latest quarterly Economic Outlook. A protracted outbreak could also result in a more severe impact than the downturn experienced in 2008-09. However, it said the economy is expected…
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3 MarchBusiness Bites
Coronavirus is stepping up a gear – this could be serious
When I started this column back in December I did not anticipate a single subject would dominate it so much, but as I wrote last week it would be silly not to address the latest coronavirus circumstances given that each new development so far has had a profound impact on…
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Jan- 2020 -29 JanuaryAnalysis
British Airways gets flighty and Starbucks smells the coffee over coronavirus
The business response to the coronavirus situation, which appears to be developing into a serious crisis, continues apace today. British Airways today announced that it was suspending all flights between the UK and Wuhan, the Chinese city where the virus originally broke out. In a statement it said: “We have…
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17 JanuaryAnalysis
The trillion-dollar club has gained Google as a member
Remember at school when teachers used to explain how one million was an essentially incomprehensibly large number? I recall one of mine showing the number represented on a huge rolled out piece of paper as wide and long as a carpet, with precisely one million individual dots. I was about…
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