High Street
This coverage explores the state and evolution of the UK high street, with reporting on store openings and closures, footfall trends, redevelopment projects, policy impacts, and changing consumer behaviour. Insights are designed to help retail managers and executives understand the challenges and opportunities shaping high street retail operations and strategy.
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Nov- 2022 -10 NovemberHigh Street
WH Smith profits soar amid global travel return
WH Smith has reported a headline pre-tax profit of £61m for the year to the end of August, against a £104m loss last year, beating market expectations. It also posted a “significant recovery” in group performance with revenue of £1.4bn, up from £886m in 2021. The company said it would…
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Oct- 2022 -28 OctoberHigh Street
Store vacancy rate falls but remains below pre-pandemic levels
In the third quarter of 2022, the overall GB vacancy rate decreased to 13.9%, a 0.1% rise from Q2 and 0.6% better than the same period last year, according to the latest monitor from the BRC and Local Data Company. This was the fourth consecutive quarter of falling vacancy rates.…
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Sep- 2022 -27 SeptemberHigh Street
Card Factory sales soars as high street business rebounds
Card Factory has welcomed revenue growth of 4.1% in its half-year results, following “good momentum within the business” as well as a “shift of customer spend back towards the high street and reversal of lockdown effects”. As customers returned to the high street, store revenue soared by 81.8% in the…
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7 SeptemberHigh Street
WH Smith buoyed by travel as high street sales take hit
WH Smith expects that full-year trading will be in line with expectations in FY22, as a rebound in its travel business helped mitigate weaker sales across the high street. Total revenue surpassed 2019 levels at 112% in the half-year ended 27 August 2022, while Travel was “comfortably in excess of…
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6 SeptemberGovernment
Retailers call for strong leadership and high street support from new PM
The retail industry has urged Liz Truss to work alongside the sector and provide “strong leadership” amid the deepening cost-of-living crisis, as she succeeds the role of prime minister today (6 September). The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said that while the retail industry is ready to work with the new…
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2 SeptemberPeople Moves
Not On The High Street appoints Leanne Rothwell as CEO
Not On The High Street has announced its chief commercial officer Leanne Rothwell is to succeed Claire Davenport as its CEO. Davenport is set to step down as CEO of Not On The High Street after three years leading the company. Rothwell will step into the role of CEO starting…
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Aug- 2022 -25 AugustClothing & Shoes
French fashion brand Jott to open its first UK store in Marylebone
French fashion brand Jott has announced its first UK store is opening in Marylebone Village in the autumn. Jott is a French premium outerwear brand with “iconic colourful down jackets”. Its first British store at 103 Marylebone High Street covers 1,140 sq ft of space. The news follows the recent…
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16 AugustFeatures
In conversation with the CIO of the ‘Amazon Prime of mattresses’
How was Mattress Online started? Mattress Online was started back in 2003 by Steve Kelly, an industry expert in the mattress and bed industry, and Steve Adams, an entrepreneur in e-commerce. The starting point was bridging traditional retail with the next step, which was getting it online. Bear in mind,…
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10 AugustAnalysis
JD Sports and the Footasylum merger saga – what went wrong?
Following JD Sports’ acquisition of Footasylum for £91.1m in March 2019, The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), a non-ministerial government department responsible for strengthening business competition and reducing anti-competitive activities, announced it had launched an investigation into the deal on 24 July 2019, citing that it would examine whether the…
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3 AugustHigh Street
Poundland targets 25 new sites amid wide-ranging price cuts
Poundland has confirmed it is set to open 10 new and relocated stores before the end of September, with up to another 15 in the pipeline by the end of the year. The new openings stretch from South Wales and southern England to the north of Scotland, and its store…
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