Little ‘Christmas cheer’ as UK consumer confidence falls November 20, 2020 New coronavirus restrictions and rising cases knocked UK consumer confidence in November, a survey has shown, as people became more gloomy about their future economic health. The closely watched consumer confidence index from researcher GfK fell two points to minus 33 in November, its lowest reading since June. Britain’s economy has been hit particularly hard [...]
Case dismissed: Downing Street in disarray as head of parties inquiry quits December 18, 2021 Simon Case will no longer lead the investigation into Downing Street parties last Christmas after reports his own office held one.
Editorial: Christmas plans expose Government’s lack of strategy November 18, 2020 Only a true Scrooge would begrudge the Government’s reported plans to open up the country for a Christmas spectacular. But, well, here we are. Such a move betrays the fundamental lack of thought at the heart of the Government’s strategy – or lack thereof. The plan, as we understand it, is to allow for household [...]
Christmas relaxation of restrictions will likely spell January lockdown November 18, 2020 England could face a month-long lockdown in January in exchange for five days of relaxed restrictions over Christmas, the UK’s health chiefs have suggested. Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser to NHS Test and Trace, initially told a Downing Street briefing this morning that advice from Sage showed “for every day that we release [measures] we [...]
Matalan ‘very cautious’ over impact of latest lockdown as Christmas sales drop January 18, 2021 Budget fashion retailer Matalan warned that it is “very cautious” about the coming months due to the ongoing impact of coronavirus, as it announced a drop in sales over the crucial Christmas trading period. In the five weeks to 2 January, total UK revenue was £119.2m, down from £134.3m in the previous year, as the [...]
Meet the parents behind the runaway success of LaplandUK’s ‘secret in the forest’ December 5, 2023 Alison and Mike Battle were fed up with bad Christmas grottos – so they built their own immersive experience. They tell Jennifer Sieg how they’ve grown LaplandUK over almost two decades to become a Christmas staple. A little Christmas magic As parents of four, primary school teacher Alison Battle and her hedgie husband Mike had [...]
Pressure mounts on big four supermarkets as Lidl enjoys record Christmas sales January 13, 2021 Lidl has strengthened the pressure on its competitors by remaining the fastest growing retailer against the UK’s big four supermarkets of Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons. The German chain achieved a record Christmas in 2020 with overall sales increasing 17.9 per cent in the same four-week December period versus the previous year. With Christmas favourites [...]
Amazon Prime Big Deal Days sees shoppers trim spending October 12, 2023 Protein shakes did well during Amazon's 'Prime Big Deal Days' event but analysts warn shoppers are tiring of discount days.
Up the chain: Boris and Ursula try to seal a deal before Christmas December 23, 2020 PM Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are said to be in “close contact” in a last-ditch bid to secure a post-Brexit trade deal. Talks on the future relationship between the UK and the EU have now dragged on for four and a half years. Read more: One final push but [...]
Lockdown batters UK footfall but retailers hope for Christmas boost December 3, 2020 Retail footfall plummeted in November amid the closure of non-essential shops, though the decline was less severe than the first lockdown earlier this year. Visitor numbers were down more than 51 per cent year on year last month as tighter Covid-19 restrictions took their toll on the high street. The decline was steeper than the [...]