West End retailers go to town on promotions to ensure expected £150m Black Friday boost November 21, 2018 Retail sales on London’s busiest shopping streets are expected to see a £150m boost over the Black Friday weekend amid challenging conditions on the high street, according to a trade group representing retailers in the area. Sales are expected to equal those of last year among around 600 retailers on Bond Street, Oxford Street and Regent Street, [...]
Christmas adverts 2017 round-up: Watch offerings from M&S, Aldi, Sky, TalkTalk – and even a teaser from John Lewis November 7, 2017 This year’s Christmas ad season is already shaping up to be a vintage one, with the return of an animated carrot, an over-enthusiastic elf and a shifty pair of eyes. Worried about missing out? Here’s what we’ve seen so far: 1. M&S: Paddington saves Christmas. Kind of. Paddington Bear helps out a would-be robber, thus [...]
Christmas shoppers shunned the high street, but attacking Amazon won’t help January 11, 2019 Between the fierce renewal of the Brexit saga, parliamentary shenanigans, and a particularly chilling cold front (interpret that literally or metaphorically, as you will), the merriness of Christmas feels like a thing of the past. But for the high street, it feels like Christmas never came at all. Reports of retail sales, released yesterday by [...]
Retail sector suffers worst Christmas in a decade as sales stagnate January 10, 2019 The UK retail sector has suffered its worst Christmas in a decade as sales stagnated during the crucial festive period, despite a string of positive updates offering a glimmer of hope. Overall retail sales were flat in December, the lowest level of growth since April and the worst festive performance since 2008, according to figures [...]
Big Boots to fill: Meet the Walgreens exec replacing Tesco’s CEO October 2, 2019 Boots veteran Ken Murphy has been named as the successor to outgoing Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis. The City reacted with surprise this morning to the news of Lewis’ departure, and the appointment of the relatively unknown new boss. Read more: Analysts react to Dave Lewis shock departure Murphy, a qualified accountant, began his career [...]
DEBATE: Is the departure of Dave Lewis a problem for Tesco? October 3, 2019 Is the surprise departure of Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis a serious problem for the company? YES, says Adam Vettese, an investment analyst at multi-asset investment platform eToro. It’s going to be a challenge for Tesco. To say that Dave Lewis will be a tough act to follow is an understatement. He took over at [...]
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, [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]