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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Sep- 2020 -18 SeptemberCoronavirus
Mayor of London urges government to extend business rates holiday
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and London Councils have joined together to urge the Government to extend the business rates holiday and help protect thousands of jobs in London and across the country. Businesses in the retail, hospitality, leisure and childcare sectors are currently benefiting from 100% relief from…
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14 SeptemberEconomy
700,000 jobs at risk as end of furlough scheme draws near
Over 700,000 employees are at risk of being made redundant in the second half of 2020, research from Institute for Employment Studies (IES) has revealed. IES estimates that some 650 thousand redundancies are expected in the second half of 2020, with 445 thousand redundancies in the three months between July…
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10 SeptemberHigh Street
125,500 retail jobs lost since start of 2020
Some 125,515 retail jobs have been lost since the start of 2020, according to the latest data from the Centre for Retail Research (CRR). Of this figure, 43,381 jobs were lost through administrations, 10,556 through CVAs and 71,578 through rationalisation schemes. The UK’s embattled high street has also seen the…
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9 SeptemberEconomy
Pizza Hut to close 29 sites, 450 jobs cut
Pizza Hut has confirmed it is to close 29 sites as part of a Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA) that will see around 450 jobs lost. Pizza Hut Restaurants revealed it is currently negotiating a CVA in order to “mitigate the financial impact of Covid-19”. It said PHR is “one of…
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8 SeptemberEconomy
UK retail sales increase by 4.7% in August
UK retail sales in August have increased by 4.7% on a like-for-like basis from August 2019, according to figures released in BRC-KPMG’s Retail Sales Monitor report for the month. Overall sales increased by 3.9% in the period, in comparison to a decline of 0.4% in August 2019. This is above…
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7 SeptemberCoronavirus
60% of mid-sized businesses plan redundancies, BDO finds
More than half (60%) of the UK’s medium-sized businesses are planning redundancies as a result of the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme coming to an end in October, according to new research from accountancy and business advisory firm, BDO. BDO’s monthly Rethinking the Economy survey of 500 medium-sized businesses across…
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Aug- 2020 -26 AugustHigh Street
Retail jobs in sharpest fall since 2009
Retail employment fell at the fastest rate since February 2009 in the year to August, with an even sharper decline anticipated in the year to September, according to the CBI’s latest monthly Distributive Trades Survey. The survey – which featured 63 retailers among its 128 respondents – also showed a…
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19 AugustComment
Security: The new experience shoppers are seeking in the ‘new normal’?
Retailers have been battling COVID-19 for months. Many traditional brick-and-mortar stores closed. Workforces were scattered — either furloughed or required to work from home. Meantime, online sales have provided a lifeline, as dramatic e-commerce spikes helped firms navigate these trying times. Now, with physical stores starting to reopen, more disruption…
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7 AugustCoronavirus
Poor July sales rock high street recovery
Poor in-store sales through the month of July have “dampened hopes of a recovery” across UK high streets, according to the latest High Street Sales Tracker from BDO. In-store like-for-like sales decreased by 39.4% last month, down from a marginal base of 0.1% that was reported the year before. According…
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Jul- 2020 -17 JulyCoronavirus
BFC calls on government support of fashion industry
The British Fashion Council (BFC) has called on the government to provide more support for Britain’s fashion industry in the wake of Covid. It comes as the group today released new data from Oxford Economics that “reinforces the stark reality of the impact of the global pandemic on the British…
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