Amazon’s ruthless move to block Visa credit cards forces anxious businesses to make stark choices December 9, 2021 Amazon’s recent decision to block Visa credit cards in the UK caught millions of businesses and consumers in between. As a result, many firms have some serious and fairly urgent choices to make, as industry insiders explained to City A.M. today. Amazon announced in November that it will no longer accept payments made with UK-issued [...]
Ocado sounds alarm on product availability as supermarket shelves stand empty January 11, 2021 Ocado has warned that the availability of some products is being impacted by coronavirus-related staff absences in its supply chain. With more staff off sick or forced to isolate some grocery suppliers are having to consolidate their lines. “Staff absences across the supply chain may lead to an increase in product substitutions for a small [...]
Consumer spending rises ahead of Christmas but retailers still feeling the pinch December 8, 2020 Early Christmas shopping helped boost consumer spending last month but lockdown restrictions continued to hit retailers. Spending dropped 1.9 per cent last month as restrictions took effect but spending on essential items climbed 4.9 per cent, according to the latest data from Barclaycard. Supermarkets enjoyed a 17.9 per cent rise in sales with a staggering [...]
River Island to axe 250 head office roles July 7, 2020 River Island is reportedly preparing to slash 250 head office roles as the retailer seeks to cut costs after sales plummeted due to the coronavirus pandemic. The high street brand is the latest retailer to make job cuts after stores were forced to close across the UK during the coronavirus lockdown. River Island will reportedly [...]
Return of hospitality fails to drive retail footfall on opening weekend July 7, 2020 The reopening of pubs and restaurants at the weekend failed to spark a surge in retail footfall, according to the latest data. As pubs and restaurants reopened in England on so-called Super Saturday, footfall at shops increased 9.2 per cent compared to the previous week. However, this was the smallest week-on-week rise for any day [...]
Commercial landlords call for insolvency rules overhaul amid ‘abuse’ of CVAs January 5, 2021 The British Property Federation (BPF) – the industry group representing landlords – has called for an overhaul of UK insolvency rules, claiming the Covid-19 pandemic has prompted “abuse” of restructuring proceedings. In a letter to corporate responsibility minister Lord Callanan, the BPF said the flexibility of the UK’s insolvency framework had led to the abuse [...]
Retirement villages may offer high streets their needed post-pandemic revival May 24, 2021 Retirement village provider Audley Group and BlackRock Real Assets have embarked on a £500m joint venture into the retirement living sector in the UK, which could bring high streets the much-needed footfall for post-pandemic revival. The joint venture, confirmed yesterday, will fund the development of at least three retirement communities, which will be ready for [...]
UK shoppers start to return to the high street after lockdown July 10, 2020 Shoppers returned to the UK high street last month as lockdown restrictions were eased, however visitor numbers were well below pre-coronavirus levels, according to the latest data. Footfall analysis by the British Retail Consortium and Shoppertrak showed that footfall in June was down 63 per cent compared to the previous year, although this was 19 [...]
Pingdemic shutdown: No industry untouched by NHS Test and Trace havoc July 16, 2021 Staffing shortages have turned manufacturing, bin collections, retail, transport and healthcare upside down as the NHS Test and Trace app “pinged” more than half a million people into isolation last week. The contact tracing app’s sensitivity is now under review after reports that the app is “pinging wrong” and Brits are being told to self-isolate [...]
Boots sales surpass pre-Covid levels as city centres spring back to life October 13, 2022 Boots’ retail sales have exceeded pre-Covid levels for the fourth quarter, thanks to rebounding footfall in city centres. Retail sales were up 15.2 per cent on a like-for-like basis, with stores near transport hubs seeing a particular resurgence. Warm weather and a return of travel abroad also buoyed sales, with store transactions up more than [...]