Job Losses
This coverage examines job losses within the UK retail sector, investigating store closures, restructuring initiatives, supplier impact, and workforce reductions. Reporting highlights trends in employment shifts, cost strategies, and executive decisions — offering insight for HR leaders, operations managers, and business executives dealing with staffing challenges and strategic planning.
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Oct- 2019 -25 OctoberTechnology
Robots could take half a million UK retail jobs within the next five years
UK retail is set to lose over half a million jobs to robots, according to the 2019 Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO Survey. According to the study, the move towards automating the retail sector is being “driven from the top”, with almost half (44%) of IT leaders reporting that using automation to…
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24 OctoberPeople Moves
85,000 retail jobs lost in the last year
Third-quarter retail employment fell by 2.8% year-on-year, the equivalent of around 85,000 jobs, marking the 15th consecutive quarter of decline in the retail workforce. According to the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC), full-time employment saw a decrease of 4.5% compared to the decrease in part-time employees of…
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Sep- 2019 -3 SeptemberHigh Street
Retail sales ‘flatline’ as discounting and poor footfall ‘hit hard’
Retail sales “flatlined” in August according to the BRC-KPMG sales monitor, as summer discounting and “poor” footfall hitting in-store sales “particularly hard”. On a total basis, sales were found to be flat in August, against an increase of 1.3% in August 2018. This is above the 3-month average of -0.4%…
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Jun- 2019 -4 JuneHigh Street
Retail sales in May see ‘biggest decline on record’
Sales decreased by 2.7% in May on a total basis, excluding Easter distortions, making it the “worst decline” since records began in January 1995, according to the latest BRC-KPMG sales monitor. However, the BRC said this was against an increase of 4.1% in May 2018, itself a four year record.…
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Apr- 2019 -24 AprilHigh Street
Majestic Wine could sell all UK stores as it moves online
Specialist wine retailer Majestic Wine could sell all 200 of its UK stores as the business prepares to move its operations online under the Naked Wines brand. The company has reportedly appointed investment bank Rothschild and Co to discuss options on a potential sale. Last month, the company announced its…
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1 AprilEconomy
Shops, pubs and restaurants to get £500m tax reprieve
Small firms on England’s embattled high streets are set to share in half a billion pounds worth of tax cuts as business rates bills are slashed, real estate adviser Altus Group has said. The government announced a business rates discount scheme for small sized high street properties in England which…
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Mar- 2019 -27 MarchAdvice
Three marketing principles for challenging retail conditions
It’s a great time for putting the boot into retail in the UK. With sales growth down year-on-year and 85,000 job losses across the sector, negativity is on-trend. Much of this pressure is being felt by high street retailers: increasing overheads and declining consumer confidence have led to a situation…
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27 MarchLuxury Goods
Majestic Wines to close all stores and rebrand as Naked
Majestic Wines has announced it is to close all 200 of its retail stores as it rebrands as Naked Wines, the online retailer it purchased for £70m from founder Rowan Gormley in 2015. The rebrand will see the company move all of its business online, while it says it will…
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15 MarchClothing & Shoes
Jobs and stores could go as Green considers Arcadia restructure
Sir Philip Green is preparing to unveil a company voluntary agreement (CVA) for Arcadia in a matter of weeks, Sky News has reported. The proposal could result in a number of job losses and store closures across its high street brands which include Topshop, Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins and Warehouse.…
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5 MarchDepartment Stores
Debenhams issues fresh profit warning
The statement Debenhams made in January to say it was on track to deliver profits in line with last year’s expectations is “no longer valid” as the department store chain reported a drop in sales. The group’s like-for-like sales fell by 5.3% in the 26 weeks to 2 March 2019…
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