Ex Ted Baker boss joins Ocado as Amazon takeover rumours swirl June 27, 2023 The former boss of British fashion brand Ted Baker will join Ocado as rumours swirl about a possible takeover bid. Rachel Osborne stepped down from her role as head of the British fashion brand earlier this month, with a number of other senior board members after Ted Baker was acquired by Authentic Brands for £211m [...]
Retailers hit with fresh blow as nearly 50 per cent of Brits think the high street is ‘no longer relevant’ May 29, 2023 Nearly half of Brits believe that high streets are no longer relevant, with new data showing that the public is craving a change to their local high street in order to continue visiting it. The data, published by IT company Accenture, comes as retail experts have forecasted that up to 18,000 stores could vanish off [...]
Asda and EG Group £12bn merger would risk jobs and food supplies, union warns April 27, 2023 A union representing workers at Asda has said a potential merger of the supermarket with EG Group’s UK petrol stations could risk jobs, food supplies and monopolise petrol stations across the UK. The GMB Union wrote to Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch urging her to call in the competition regulator to investigate the possible multibillion pound [...]
London: Shot in the arm for West End as Uniqlo UK boss says Covent Garden is the place to be April 27, 2023 Fashion chain Uniqlo said it was committed to London after opening its second store in six months. Alessandro Dudech, chief operating officer at Uniqlo UK said the company regarded it as honour to be opening a store in Covent Garden. He said it was an area of London with “cultural and retail heritage”. He added: [...]
Retail: 40 per cent of high street shops will have to be repurposed or they will ‘wither on the vine’, local leaders warn March 23, 2023 Some 40 per cent of high street shops will have to be repurposed or they will “wither on the vine” as the demand for physical retail dwindles, local leaders have warned. According to a survey by trade body Revo and consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton, as first reported by The Guardian, the need to reinvent retail [...]
American candy stores or retail hub? What might be next for Oxford Street March 19, 2023 It has been three years since the UK was plunged into its first-ever full scale lockdown – forcing the majority of stores in London’s West End to temporarily cease trading and arguably altering the state of physical retail forever. The pandemic forced once seemingly indestructible retailers such as Debenhams, Topshop, and Gap off Oxford Street, [...]
To dream up what can be done with the empty Debenhams, look at Hounslow February 28, 2023 Nine out of ten of the former Debenhams shops are still empty. Projects like The Loft in Hounslow show what could be achieved if these precious spaces were to be repurposed, writes Elena Siniscalco
Marks and Spencer shells out £480m as it revamps UK stores in bid to become leading ‘omnichannel’ retailer January 16, 2023 Marks and Spencer (M&S) is to plough nearly £0.5bn into an accelerated UK-wide investment drive which will result in 20 new larger and improved stores across the UK in the next financial year. The retailer also aims to create over 3,400 new jobs whilst providing shoppers with a “seamless” customer experience. M&S said it was [...]
Boohoo: Tears as online retailer prepares major jobs cull at London Soho office January 11, 2023 Online fast-fashion retailer Boohoo is preparing to slash over 100 jobs in its London Soho office as it continues to integrate a recent spate of big brand acquisitions. The majority of roles at risk of being cut are believed to be among Boohoo’s e-commerce, buying and design teams,; although the exact number of redundancies is [...]
Just In-Time! Timpson saves watch repair firm from bankruptcy, and 110 jobs January 6, 2023 High street stalwart Timpson has swooped in to rescue watch and jewellery specialist In-Time from bankruptcy in a move that is set to save more than 100 jobs. Timpson, which provides repairs and engraving services, announced it had bought the firm in a pre-pack sale after administrators were called in to oversee the winding up [...]