Inflation
This coverage analyses the impact of inflation on the UK retail industry, focusing on costs, pricing strategies, consumer spending, and operational challenges. Reporting highlights economic trends, retailer responses, supply chain pressures, and leadership decisions to manage margins and demand. Designed for executives and managers, it offers insights to navigate inflationary pressures while maintaining competitiveness.
-
Feb- 2020 -4 FebruarySupermarkets
UK supermarkets see ‘disappointing’ sales growth in January
Supermarket sales grew by only 0.7% in January 2020, down from 3.3% in 2019, according to new data released from Nielsen. According to the data firm, value sales since Christmas fell at the grocery multiples by 0.3%, with volumes also down 1%. This was exacerbated by inflation, which was only…
Read More » -
Jan- 2020 -21 JanuaryAnalysis
Global CEOs and the IMF reckon the UK is about to have a good year
It’s not often there is some incontrovertibly positive news about the economy, but today we’ve had some. Audit and business advisory firm PwC has polled 1,600 chief executives, and found that they think the UK is the fourth most important target in the world for companies looking to make investments.…
Read More » -
15 JanuaryAnalysis
Boohoo more valuable than M&S – a sea-change encapsulated
From a purely journalistic standpoint it is now a de facto cliché to refer to Marks and Spencer as the “high street bellwether”, yet that is the status it has held for so many decades. The once mighty monolith was the first British retailer to reach a market capitalisation of…
Read More » -
13 JanuaryHigh Street
December footfall hit by Black Friday
Footfall dropped 2.5% in December, according to the latest figures from Springboard’s footfall monitor and insights. The data provider said this came as “no surprise”, as December footfall has only increased once since 2009. Despite this, the fall was at the “upper end of the scale of decline”. The “noticeable”…
Read More » -
9 JanuaryAnalysis
Who would have thought skinny jeans could be anyone’s undoing?
It’s not often that the business pages give you a good belly laugh. But today we have the spectacle of Marks & Spencer blaming its poor Christmas trading results partly on an oversupply of skinny jeans for men. Apparently customer surveys revealed that the high street bellwether’s ranges were “too…
Read More » -
8 JanuaryHigh Street
Greggs to give workers £7m bonus after ‘phenomenal’ year
Total sales at Greggs increased by 13.5% in its full year results, amid a “phenomenal” year of “strong sales”. Company-managed shops saw like-for-like sales increase by 9.2% for the year ended 28 December 2019, while quarterly like-for-like sales increased by 8.7%. The bakery chain now expects its full year underlying…
Read More » -
7 JanuarySupermarkets
UK supermarkets experience lowest festive sales growth in five years
UK supermarkets have experienced the lowest sales growth over the Christmas period in five years, with sales growing by 0.5% in the last four weeks, according to new data. The data, from data analytics company Nielsen, found that grocery sales reached their peak at £6.2bn over the two weeks to…
Read More » -
Nov- 2019 -27 NovemberHigh Street
Shop prices fall for sixth consecutive month
Shop prices fell for the sixth consecutive month, according to the November BRC-Nielsen Shop Price Index. Overall prices fell by 0.5% year-on-year compared with a 0.4% price decrease in October. Non-food item prices also decreased by 1.6% year-on-year. Meanwhile, food item prices increased 1.4% year-on-year, reflecting an ease in inflation…
Read More » -
Oct- 2019 -31 OctoberEconomy
Consumer confidence drops further in October
Gfk’s long-running Consumer Confidence Index decreased two points to -14 in October. The measure for the general economic situation of the country during the last 12 months decreased by one point during month to -33, five points lower than in October 2018. Expectations for the general economic situation over the…
Read More » -
31 OctoberEconomy
Treasury Committee urges MPs to reform ‘broken’ business rates
The government has been urged to fix the “broken” business rates system as it is continuing to affect high street retailers, a Treasury committee has said. An influential group of MPs has asked the government to examine alternatives to property tax, which puts more pressure on high street retailers than…
Read More »
