Pandemic
This coverage examines the impact of pandemics on the UK retail industry, focusing on operational disruption, financial challenges, consumer behaviour shifts, and recovery strategies. Reporting highlights store closures, safety measures, supply chain pressures, leadership decisions, and lessons learned to enhance resilience. Tailored for executives and managers, it provides insights to navigate crisis situations and strengthen preparedness.
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Aug- 2022 -4 AugustHigh Street
Next raises profit guidance amid strong sales performance
Next has revealed its sales performance exceeded expectations by £50m, leading the retailer to raise its full-year profit guidance by £10m to £860m. Full price sales were 4.7% stronger than expected in the second quarter to 30 July, which Next said was due to “unusually warm and dry weather in…
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3 AugustNews
Just Eat parent suffers €3.5bn write down on US business in H1
Just Eat Takeaway has reported a loss of €3.5bn (£2.9bn) in the first half of 2022 (H1), due to an impairment of €3bn (£2.5bn) from the acquisition of US rival Grubhub in 2021, the impact of increasing interest rates and equity volatility on technical valuation metrics. However, the company expects…
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3 AugustEconomy
Hugo Boss hails strongest Q2 in its history
Hugo Boss has reported an operating profit of €100m (£83.4m) for Q2, over double the €42m (£35m) it recorded in Q2 2021. The three month period also saw group sales surge 34% compared with the prior-year period and its revenues increased 40%, totaling €878m (£728.9m), marking its “strongest second quarter…
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2 AugustFeatures
Plant Based World Expo offers key to increasing sales
Rise of the Flexitarian The plant-based food market has experienced extreme growth in the past five years, with sales of meat-free and plant-based dairy products roughly doubling. This growth has been accelerated by the pandemic, when improving health became priority number one for many people and reducing intake of animal…
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2 AugustAnalysis
Naked Wines on uneven footing for the future
The specialty wine retailer, Naked Wines, has experienced a downward trend in its sales, with full-year sales rising by only 3% after peak pandemic trading, and shares in the company down 4.2% at 158.10p each. The company’s chief financial officer even departed the company by “mutual agreement” amid a recent…
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2 AugustHigh Street
Travis Perkins reports ‘good’ H1 performance
Travis Perkins has revealed an adjusted operating profit of £163m for the six month ended 30 June, down just 0.6% from the same period last year (£164m). It comes as the group posted strong revenue growth of 10.3% up to £2.5bn. It also reported strong market outperformance in merchanting with…
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1 AugustFeatures
Recession and retailers: a ‘cleansing effect’?
“Incomes are being squeezed, consumption is under pressure, interest rates are rising, and there’s a lot of uncertainty. These are classic ingredients for recession,” says Ian Stewart, Deloitte’s chief economist. According to Deloitte’s UK CFO Survey Q2 2022, finance leaders have assigned a 63% probability of experiencing a recession within…
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1 AugustHigh Street
Shop vacancies fall for third quarter in a row
In the second quarter of 2022, the overall GB vacancy rate decreased to 14.0%, which was 0.1 percentage points better than Q1 and 0.5 percentage points better than the same period last year, according to the BRC. This was the third consecutive quarter of falling vacancy rates. All locations saw…
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Jul- 2022 -28 JulyEconomy
Virgin Wines revenue up 63% on pre-Covid levels
Online wine retailer, Virgin Wines, has revealed that the company’s revenue is up 63% on a three-year, pre-Covid basis, compared to the FY19 result of £42.4m, highlighting that the business has retained much of the substantial growth achieved during the pandemic. However, it is reported that the company has a…
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27 JulyComment
Quick delivery companies must build a brand beyond just awareness
One of the many changes in consumer behaviour brought upon by the pandemic has been the growing reliance on the rapid delivery of essential items to the home. From the urgent need of toilet paper has spawned a new wave of demand for the quick delivery of ‘nice to haves’…
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