Rachel Reeves
This coverage analyses Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ fiscal policies and their implications for the UK retail sector. Reporting focuses on tax reforms, business rates adjustments, labour cost policies, and trade measures affecting retail operations and strategy. Retail executives, finance managers, and policy specialists can use these insights to understand how government decisions shape the retail business environment and inform strategic planning.
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Sep- 2025 -18 SeptemberHigh Street
Next CEO warns UK economy faces ‘anaemic growth’ despite HY profit uplift
Next has revealed that its profit-before-tax rose 13.8% to £515m for the half year ended July 2025 as its CEO warned that the UK is facing “anemic growth”. It comes as the group’s revenues rose 10.3% to £3.25bn, helped by favourable weather and business gained during the M&S cyber attack…
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18 SeptemberHigh Street
Modella Capital leads race to acquire Claire’s UK arm
Modella Capital is leading the race to acquire the UK arm of Clire’s, after reportedly agreeing the outline of a deal with Ames Watson, the new US-based owner of Claire’s, Sky News has reported. The London-based investor, which bought WH Smith’s high street business earlier this year, is said to…
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16 SeptemberSupermarkets
Autumn budget could hit festive spending, warns Aldi CEO
The UK chief executive of Aldi has warned that the timing of the government’s late November budget could dampen consumer spending in the run-up to Christmas. Speaking to The Guardian, Giles Hurley said uncertainty around the measures chancellor Rachel Reeves will announce to address the fiscal gap in public finances…
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Aug- 2025 -27 AugustSupermarkets
Lidl invests £435m in warehouses network
Lidl GB has completed a major expansion of its Belvedere warehouse in London and begun work on a new site in Leeds, as part of wider plans to grow its UK store network. The discount supermarket has invested £285m in a two-stage development at Belvedere. The first phase, costing £160m,…
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11 AugustSupermarkets
Iceland links food price rises to Reeves’ budget measures
Iceland has warned that food prices will rise as suppliers pass on higher costs linked to last autumn’s budget measures, The Telegraph has reported. The supermarket said the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions and the National Living Wage was pushing up its suppliers’ labour costs, which in turn were…
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5 AugustShopping Centres
British shoppers drive surge in EU VAT-free spending after UK scheme scrapped
British spending on VAT-free shopping in the European Union (EU) has risen more than fivefold since 2021, as consumers increasingly choose to buy luxury goods abroad rather than in UK stores, according to the Times. New figures from the Association of International Retail (AIR) show that Britons spent £742m in…
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Jul- 2025 -14 JulyGovernment
Reeves eyes business rates rise for supermarkets and department stores
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is reportedly considering increasing business rates for department stores and supermarkets as she looks to raise £1.7bn from businesses this autumn, according to The Telegraph. The outlet revealed that the chancellor is looking to plug the £5bn hole left after the government was forced to abandon cuts…
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Jun- 2025 -12 JuneEconomy
Retailers welcome £2bn police boost but urge for more action
Retail trade bodies have welcomed the £2bn funding boost for police forces in England and Wales, but cautioned that the investment alone will not be enough to tackle rising levels of high street crime. It comes as Rachel Reeves announced in yesterday’s Spending Review (11 June) that the police’s spending…
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May- 2025 -19 MayEconomy
Retailers urge Reeves to reinstate VAT-free shopping
Retailers are urging chancellor Rachel Reeves to reinstate tax-free shopping for tourists as US escalating tariffs continue to cause disrupture, The Times has revealed. In a joint letter to the chancellor, seen by The Times, four major trade bodies — the British Retail Consortium, the British Beauty Council, Walpole and…
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15 MayNews-In-Brief
Today’s news in brief-15/5/25
B&M has appointed former Tesco executive Tjeerd Jegen as its new CEO, effective 16 June 2025. Jegen brings 25 years of retail experience from companies including Ahold Delhaize and Woolworths. Chair Tiffany Hall praised his strategic insight and customer-centric approach. Despite a 3.1% drop in UK like-for-like sales to £4.5bn…
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