Sainsbury hails bumper Xmas but sales slow January 9, 2013 SAINSBURY’S yesterday hailed “a record-breaking Christmas” despite suffering its weakest growth in seven years as the grocer market battles with squeezed household income and cut throat competition. Chief executive Justin King pointed to a 32nd consecutive quarter of like-for-like growth, with sales at stores open a year up 0.9 per cent, excluding fuel in the [...]
Retail gloom as UK stays at home February 17, 2013 SHOPPERS have been deserting the UK’s struggling retailers since the start of the year, adding to gloom in the sec- tor as sales fall for the first time in years and well-established firms col- lapse into administration. Total UK retail footfall sunk 4.6 per cent over the year to January, data from the British Retail [...]
Dixons boss says high street is in midst of seismic change January 17, 2013 DIXONS Retail’s chief executive yesterday warned that Britain’s high streets were undergoing “a seismic change” as the electricals group saw sales benefit from its rival Comet’s demise. Sebastian James said it was “heartbreaking” to see great brands disappear from the high street. He added that “the winners are those that can offer a great multi-channel [...]
FTSE rally eludes UK grocery giants January 2, 2013 SUPERMARKET chains Morrisons and Sainsbury’s failed to make the most of UK investors’ New Year optimism yesterday after analysts raised fears that their performance had been less than stellar over the crucial Christmas trading period. Morrisons was one of just three fallers in the FTSE – closing down two per cent – after house broker [...]
Sony to put end to four year loss as yen weakens February 7, 2013 SONY has announced a dramatic fall in losses, and said it expects to post an annual profit for the first time since 2008 later this year. A combination of a weak yen and cost cutting meant losses in the final three months of 2012 were down to ¥10.7bn (£72.8m), compared with ¥158.4bn in the same [...]
Ted Baker unveils festive results boost January 9, 2013 TED BAKER made a seamless start to the year after yesterday announcing that mens’ tailoring helped to boost sales by more than a fifth over Christmas and New Year. Chief executive Ray Kelvin yesterday said the clothing chain “delivered a good result” over the period with retail sales up 20.9 per cent in the 8 [...]
Morrisons reveals worsening pre-Christmas sales January 7, 2013 Supermarket Morrisons posted declining sales in the run-up to Christmas this morning, as it admitted its sales were “disappointing”. Over the six weeks to 30 December, total sales excluding fuel were down by 0.5 per cent. Like for like sales suffered a larger drop, down by 2.5 per cent over the period, the retailer said [...]
Families get support for Christmas December 10, 2012 Nearly half of Britons will receive financial support as a Christmas presents this year, according to a poll from Scottish Widows. Forty-four per cent of the population will get some kind of financial support from their family, the survey said, while one out 10 will need financial support just to get through the holiday period. [...]
New Look says turnaround plan paying off as festive sales rise January 7, 2013 VALUE fashion retailer New Look said it enjoyed a stellar Christmas trading period as it benefited from shoppers delaying spending and hunting for bargain buys. The firm, owned by private equity groups Apax, Permira and founder Tom Singh, posted a 3.7 per cent rise in UK like-for-like sales for the 14 weeks to 29 December. [...]
Boris joins Olympic volunteers for carols December 9, 2012 MORE than 3,500 Olympic volunteers donned familiar pink uniforms for a Christmas concert in Trafalgar Square this weekend, organised by Mayor of London Boris Johnson. The games makers enjoyed carols led by Britain’s Got Talent’s Jonathan & Charlotte, as the Mayor revealed his team of ambassadors would be making a comeback over the festive period, [...]