Revealed: The high street retailers that collapsed in 2018 January 7, 2019 To many analysts, 2018 was seen as the year the death knell was sounded for the high street, with the number of retailers falling into administration rising for the second year in a row, according to Deloitte. A total of 125 retailers collapsed last year and there was a 53 per cent increase in Company [...]
Coronavirus: Former F1 chief Ron Dennis donates £1m for NHS staff meals April 5, 2020 Former McLaren F1 boss Ron Dennis has launched a major initiative to serve 1m free meals to frontline NHS workers. The multimillionaire motor racing mogul has pledged more than £1m to provide meals for medical staff across the country as they battle the coronavirus pandemic. The food will be delivered to intensive care care staff, [...]
Why 2019 will not mark the death of the high street January 2, 2019 When HMV went into administration in 2013, disgruntled employees used the retailer’s Twitter account to give live updates of the “mass execution” at the beleaguered music firm. However, ahead of last week’s announcement that the the 97-year-old business was collapsing for a second time, passwords for all its social media accounts were changed to avoid [...]
Christmas is giving us the gift of retail relationships December 16, 2018 This year’s flagship Christmas advert from John Lewis shows how the gift of a piano to Elton John as a child gave him a talent that he nurtured into an incredible career as a musician. The ad also raised an important question – what can marketers learn from the idea behind the slogan “a gift [...]
Value of retail property falls to slowest rate in nine years as vacancies and losses take their toll on landlords December 11, 2018 Fresh evidence of the woes facing high street landlords and shopping centre owners emerged today, as new data showed that the value of retail property has fallen by its largest monthly amount in nearly a decade. The value of retail property tumbled 1.9 per cent in November, marking the sector’s sharpest month-on-month drop since May [...]
Ditch expensive Christmas TV ads and switch to influencer marketing instead November 26, 2018 Last year, John Lewis spent £7m on its Christmas ad campaign. This year, it announced that its profits had crashed by 99 per cent. Debenhams also warmed the hearts of the Christmas consumers in 2017 with a sumptuous, but expensive, festive ad. In June, it announced that it would see its third consecutive profit slump. [...]
Morrisons increases sales for a fourth consecutive Christmas but shares fall as it loses market share January 8, 2019 Morrisons posted its fourth consecutive Christmas of growth today, crediting competitive pricing of key festive foods and customer service for its strong performance. Excluding fuel, total sales at the supermarket rose by four per cent in the nine weeks to 6 January, while like-for-like sales grew by 3.6 per cent, with retail contributing 0.6 per [...]
Waitrose trials ‘in-home’ delivery service while you’re at work October 5, 2018 Waitrose is testing out a new service where it will put away your food shopping for you while you're out, enabling more customers to receive home deliveries during the work week. Using smart lock technology, customers will be able to grant access to Waitorise drivers by setting a temporary passcode which is then deleted once the [...]
Sports Direct named least reputable retailer in annual rankings while Amazon takes top spot August 28, 2018 Sports Direct has been named the least reputable retailer in the UK after a survey of consumer attitudes. The sports gear retailer languished at the bottom of the rankings compiled by the Reputation Institute for its annual UK Retail RepTrack. Sports Direct scored poorly on four measures: workplace, governance, citizenship and leadership. It comes just weeks after [...]
Marks and Spencer results will reflect the high street’s health November 4, 2018 Results from Marks and Spencer’s clothing range – long the weaker twin to its strong food offering – will be closely watched when the retailer reports on Wednesday, after difficult results for several of its rivals. Consensus estimates from 11 analysts suggest the FTSE 100 firm will post half-year profits before tax of £203m, a [...]