England
This coverage focuses on retail developments, trends, and performance across England. Reporting includes store openings and closures, regional economic factors, consumer behaviour, property developments, and strategic initiatives by national and local retailers. Designed for executives and managers, it offers insights into operating successfully within England’s diverse retail landscape.
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Jun- 2018 -18 JuneEconomy
Bitcoin in retail could ‘bring the internet to a halt’
A new report from the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) in Switzerland has claimed Bitcoin would “bring the internet to a halt” if used as a mainstream payment method in the retail sector. The report also claimed that Bitcoin was a “poor substitute” for state-backed currency as the BIS says…
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15 JuneSupermarkets
Parfetts Cash and Carry acquires Blakemore Wholesale
Retailer Parfetts Cash and Carry has acquired Middlesbrough-based food retail and distributor Blakemore Wholesale for an undisclosed sum. Parfetts now has seven branches as the acquisition geographically expands the wholesale service, as well as the Go Local Retail Club formats which span from the Midlands to the north of England.…
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8 JuneHealth & Beauty
Lush removes ‘spy cops’ campaign for fear of ‘staff safety’
The cosmetics company Lush has suspended its ‘spy cops’ campaign in fear of retaliation to its staff. The campaign related to so-called UK’s ‘spy cops’ scandal where claims about undercover officers infiltrating activists groups in England and Wales were made. Lush initially launched the campaign highlighting the “small and secretive…
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4 JuneHigh Street
Shoplifting incidents increase 4% in a year
An OnBuy investigation which used data from the UK Police has revealed a 4% increase in shoplifting offences in this financial year. The figures were compared with previous years’ figures for England and Wales. The investigation showed a total of 378,725 shoplifting incidents reported to 42 police forces in England…
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4 JuneHigh Street
Footfall drops 8.6% as sunshine fails to attract shoppers
The UK high street saw an overall 8.6% year-on-year drop in footfall despite the warm May bank holidays, figures show. According to Ipsos’ UK Retail Traffic Weathermap, London and the south east saw the sharpest decline with 13.3% fewer shoppers on the high street compared with the same period last…
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1 JuneHigh Street
Lush ‘anti-police’ campaign heavily criticised
Cosmetics retailer Lush has been shrouded in controversy after releasing window displays described by many on social media as “anti-police”. According to Lush the window displays are aimed at the undercover policing scandal and at highlighting the “current lack of progress of the Undercover Policing Inquiry and the granting of…
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May- 2018 -31 MayEconomy
World Cup boost of £1.33bn awaits
UK retailers could benefit from a £1.33bn economy boost during the 2018 World Cup this summer if England make it through the second round, according to research. A study conducted by the Centre of Retail Research (CRR) and VoucherCodes also suggested that this could rise to £2.72bn if the team…
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29 MayDepartment Stores
Number of department stores ‘falls 25%’ in less than a decade
The number of large department stores in England has fallen by 25% in less than a decade according to new research by secured lending platform Lendy. It said department stores have been more sharply affected than the rest of the high street by online shopping, as the unusually heavy debt…
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11 MaySupermarkets
Sainsbury’s and Asda could be forced to sell more than 70 stores
Sainsbury’s and Asda may have to sell at least 73 stores in order for the merger to go ahead according to a leading expert in store location. David Haywood founder of Maximise UK predicts that at least 6% of Sainsbury’s and Asda stores are under threat of closure, due to…
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Apr- 2018 -13 AprilAdvice
Retail finance should be celebrated, not feared
Let’s face it: consumer finance gets a bad rap. Only recently did UK Finance release figures showing that debt on UK credit cards is growing at the fastest rate since before the financial crisis. The stats show that the annual growth rate in outstanding credit card debt reached 8.3% in…
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