Wales
This coverage highlights retail developments and economic trends specific to Wales, examining store openings and closures, regional sales performance, employment issues, and policy changes affecting the retail sector. Reporting provides retail managers and executives with insights into the unique challenges and opportunities shaping retail operations across Welsh towns and cities.
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Apr- 2023 -24 AprilFeatures
Is Labour’s five-point plan a starting point to revive high streets?
Can you tell me about yourself and your experience in the retail sector? I‘ve been working in retail for the past three years, having joined BRC the week before lockdown in March 2020. I work in our corporate affairs team, which has responsibility for running the BRC’s public affairs and…
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11 AprilHigh Street
Footfall surges 18.6% on Good Friday
Good Friday footfall (up to 5pm) has provided a welcome boost to retailers as it surged by 18.6% compared with the previous week, according to a new report by Springboard. The footfall in high streets was 26% higher than the previous Friday by 5pm and 8.5% higher than the week…
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Mar- 2023 -30 MarchClothing & Shoes
Primark boosts hourly pay for retail assistants
Primark is to increase the pay of its retail assistants in Great Britain, giving around 26,000 retail colleagues an average pay rise of 12%. The retailer is increasing the rates of pay for all hourly-paid store colleagues across England, Scotland and Wales to £11 an hour and £11.51 in London.…
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14 MarchHigh Street
Severe weather sees footfall drop 7%
Footfall across UK retail destinations declined by -7% last week due to “severe” weather conditions, a far greater decline than in the week before last when footfall had dropped by a modest -1.1%, according to the latest figures from Springboard. Springboard revealed that high streets were by far the hardest…
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2 MarchHigh Street
Footfall falls by 5.3% following half-term boost
Footfall across UK retail destinations declined by -5.3% last week from the week before when it surged +7.6% thanks to school half-term. Over the three days from Monday to Wednesday footfall declined by an average of -12.6% in response to an average rise of +16.8% over the same three days…
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1 MarchHigh Street
B&M announces store reshuffle
Discount retailer B&M has announced that it is closing a number of stores over the next few weeks not for financial reasons but as part of a reshuffle of its store estate According to The Mirror, the closures are due to some stores moving to bigger sites or other external…
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Jan- 2023 -27 JanuaryHigh Street
Store Vacancies fall to 13.8% in Q4
The overall vacancy rate improved to 13.8% in the fourth quarter of 2022, which was 0.1 percentage points better than Q3 and 0.6 percentage points better than the same period last year, according to the latest BRC/LDC monitor. This was the fifth consecutive quarter of falling vacancy rates. All locations…
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25 JanuaryClothing & Shoes
Footfall improves throughout 2022 but remains 14% behind 2019
UK footfall improved throughout 2022, but there still remains a “significant” 14.2% gap to pre-pandemic 2019 levels, according to Springboard’s annual retail review for 2022. However, the figure does mark “a steady improvement”, from -20.8% below 2019 in January 2022 to -10.9% in December 2022. The uplift from 2021, however,…
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16 JanuaryPeople Moves
Landsec eyes Sir Ian Cheshire as chairman
Landsec, the property group that owns 50% of Bluewater shopping centre, is considering appointing Sir Ian Cheshire as its new chairman. According to Sky News, Landsec is lining up the former Debenhams chairman to replace Cresida Hogg with the appointment potentially coming as early as this month. Cheshire is currently…
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Dec- 2022 -6 DecemberHigh Street
Footfall rises 5.4% amid ‘cause for optimism’
Footfall rose by +5.4% across all UK retail destinations last week from the week before, with increases across all three key destination types (+6.9% in high streets, +4.8% in shopping centres and +3% in retail parks), according to Springboard. Springboard said this offers a “cause for some optimism” for retailers…
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