Retail: Employment figures slump to new lows with 150,000 jobs predicted to go by end of the year March 14, 2023 Retailers were cautious about hiring extra workers in the run up to Christmas, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has claimed after ONS figures show that the number of roles were down 14,000 year on year in the last leg of 2022. “Low consumer confidence and falling sales volumes meant many retailers were more cautious in [...]
Reform business rates to keep food prices low, retail sector warns October 31, 2023 The rate at which food prices are increasing sank to its lowest level since last summer this month, as sector heads make fresh calls to the government to slash business rates to ensure the deceleration continues. According to the latest reading from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) food inflation came in at 8.8 per cent [...]
Payments regulator slams Visa and Mastercard for merchant fee hikes but forgoes price caps May 21, 2024 The UK payments regulator has found "little evidence" that fee hikes by Visa and Mastercard on retailers have majorly improved the quality of service, adding that the card giants do not face effective competition.
Retail sales show signs of recovery after summer washout September 22, 2023 Retail sales volumes rose by 0.4 per cent in August 2023, partially recovering from a fall of 1.1 per cent in July 2023, new government figures show. Non-food stores sales volumes grew by 0.6 per cent in August 2023, following a fall of 1.2 per cent in July 2023 when unseasonable rainy weather drove shoppers [...]
Food inflation lowest level since last August, as supermarket price wars pay off October 3, 2023 The rate at which food prices increase has fallen to 9.9 per cent in September, down from 11.5 per cent the prior month, and the lowest level since last August, in the latest signal that cost of living pressures customers face at the till are beginning to ease. Shop price annual inflation is now also [...]
Barclays: Tiktok and Instagram ‘no spend challenge’ helps push non-essential spending to two-year low April 9, 2024 Non-essential spending slumped to its lowest level in over two years, a new report has found, as Brits partaking in a popular no-spend challenge bruises restaurant and retail trade.
Hospitality braces for £100m in lost sales ahead of biggest day of strikes in over a decade January 30, 2023 Retail and hospitality figures have described strike action set to take place on Wednesday as “damaging” to the sector and “entirely avoidable”. Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality told City A.M. she estimates union strikes this week will set the sector back a further £100m in lost sales, with “much of that impact being felt [...]
Mini-heatwave and Euros give hospitality hope for spending bump June 24, 2024 Leading figures in retail have said the warmer weather, in addition to the Euro football championships, could give a welcome boost to the sector, after a damp June.
Jeremy Hunt to meet CMA, Ofgem, Ofwat and Ofcom over ‘profiteering’ concerns June 26, 2023 Jeremy Hunt will ask industry regulators what they are doing about any companies exploiting rampant inflation by raising prices. The Chancellor is set to meet the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), and the watchdogs for energy, water and communications on Wednesday. He will press them on whether there is a profiteering problem in their sectors [...]
Christmas fear for UK restaurateurs as Brits cut back on dining out to heat their house November 7, 2023 In the run up to Christmas, 56 per cent of respondents said they would cut back on eating out at restaurants