Mobile shoppers boost demand at Shop Direct January 13, 2014 SHOP Direct said sales from smartphone and tablets “exploded” over Christmas, boosting the group’s efforts to shift away from its roots as a traditional catalogue business. The online and catalogue retailer, which owns brands such as Very.co.uk, Littlewoods.com and isme.com, said total sales rose five per cent in the six weeks to 27 December compared [...]
JD Wetherspoon reveals rise in Christmas sales January 22, 2014 JD WETHERSPOON reported strong results over the Christmas and New Year period yesterday, the latest in a series of UK pubs to benefit from the holiday season. Like-for-like sales for the twelve weeks of the second quarter were up by 6.7 per cent and total sales by 10.6 per cent, while year to date like-for-like [...]
Politicians concerned that spending cuts could jeopardise Environment Agency’s flood work January 7, 2014 POLITICIANS warned yesterday that budget cuts at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs could endanger the country’s efforts to deal with flooding and other extreme weather. Defra’s budget will be cut from £3bn in 2010-11 to £2.2bn by 2015-16, meaning it faces some of the most stark spending reductions of any government [...]
Deflation grips shops through Christmas sales January 7, 2014 SHOP prices dropped at the fastest pace for at least seven years this Christmas, as retailers struggled to capitalise on 2013’s increasing consumer confidence. According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Nielsen, shop prices slipped by 0.8 per cent during December, driven by a 2.3 per cent drop in non-food prices. Retailers have now [...]
Online retailers take £10bn in a bumper November December 16, 2013 ONLINE retailers took over £10bn of sales in November, a new monthly record that raises further fears that high street retailers have been left behind in the key Christmas trading period. Online retail sales jumped by 30 per cent in November compared with the previous month – the highest monthly increase in 10 years. This [...]
John Lewis boasts record sales in the Christmas trading period January 2, 2013 JOHN Lewis yesterday reported bumper sales over the festive period boosted by online orders, which now account for a quarter of the company’s total sales. The department store group reported £684.8m of sales for the five weeks to 29 December, including a record take of £31.7m for the first day of its sales in stores [...]
Burberry flags currency headwinds as sales jump 12pc January 15, 2014 Burberry has said that, despite a reasonably strong festive season, it expects exchange headwinds to affect its second half results. The high-end fashion store has posted a 12 per cent rise in comparable sales for the last three months of 2013, with retail revenue up 14 per cent to £528m. Nomura analysts had expected sales [...]
Tesco downgrades forecasts as Christmas trading disappoints January 9, 2014 TESCO admitted yesterday that full year profits could be as much as £150m below expectations as Britain’s biggest supermarket retailer reported another heavy decline in like-for-like sales over the Christmas trading period. The group, which is 21 months into a turnaround plan, said like-for-like sales fell 2.4 per cent in the six weeks to 4 [...]
Topps Tiles’ fortunes follow housing market January 7, 2014 Topps Tiles, the UK's largest tile and wood floorings specialist, saw a 9.3 per cent jump in like-for-like revenues over the run up to Christmas – in the 13 weeks ending 28 December. For a company that helps people refurbish their homes, how well Topps does is closely linked to the housing market (people do [...]
Prosecco demand sees Majestic Wine profits sparkle November 18, 2013 Majestic Wine has posted a rise in pre-tax profits of 4.2 per cent to £9.2m, in the six months to September. Total sales for the period were up by 3.3 per cent to £130.2m. A significant proportion of that increase came from a spike in sales of sparkling wine of 39 per cent. The company [...]