Fewer visitors flock to the high street in October but vacancy rates fall to four-year low November 16, 2015 Fewer shoppers visited the high street in October and flocked to retail parks instead, according to the latest industry figures. High street footfall fell by one per cent year-on-year compared with a 0.6 per cent decline in September the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Springboard revealed today. In contrast, footfall at retail parks increased 2.6 [...]
Shop prices drop for 30th month in a row as competition heats up ahead of Christmas November 4, 2015 UK shop prices fell in October for the 30th month in a row, dragged down by low commodity prices and fierce competition among retailers ahead of the crucial Christmas period. Prices fell by 1.8 per cent on the year, figures for the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Nielsen show, which was a slight slowdown on [...]
UK retail sales: Online Black Friday bonanza steals limelight away from the high street December 8, 2015 High street retailers lost out in November, with sales falling into the red, as online retailers enticing shoppers with Black Friday bargains stole the show. Like-for-like retail sales fell by 0.4 per cent last month compared with November last year, when they had increased 0.9 per cent from the preceding year, according to figures released [...]
UK employment statistics 2015: Job vacancies on the rise across London November 9, 2015 Jobs are on the up across a variety of sectors, according to several reports released today. The number of new vacancies in financial services in London rose by seven per cent to 9,480 in October compared to the month before, recruitment consultancy Morgan McKinley found. The figure also represents a 28 per cent increase compared [...]
UK shoppers to splash out £20.3bn on groceries this Christmas December 2, 2015 British shoppers are on course to spend £20.3bn on groceries over the festive period, an increase of 1.4 per cent on the £20bn spent in 2014, according to research from IGD. The grocery industry body said shoppers are feeling more upbeat about Christmas this year, with almost a fifth (19 per cent) of people surveyed [...]
High street retailers preparing themselves for a pre-Christmas spending rush December 18, 2015 High street retailers are bracing themselves for a pre-Christmas spending boom, with shoppers tipped to splurge around £4.7bn in stores over the next four days, allaying fears that November’s Black Friday bonanza and the rise of online shopping would keep customers away. Brits will splash out around £5.9bn on last-minute presents and food over the four days starting tomorrow [...]
Dixons Carphone hails bigger than ever Black Friday as profits beat forecasts December 16, 2015 Dixons Carphone shares climbed three per cent higher this morning after the high street electricals giant beat City expectations with a 23 per cent jump in first-half profits. The FTSE 100 company, which trades as Currys, PC World and Carphone Warehouse in the UK and Ireland, said strong performance in the UK helped it outperform the [...]
CBI conference: Tesco boss Dave Lewis urges Tories to consult more with retail industry – taking side-swipe at policies ranging from apprenticeship levy to Living Wage November 9, 2015 "Drastic Dave" Lewis has called on the government to pay more attention to the retail industry when adopting new measures, taking a swipe at key Tory policies ranging from the apprenticeship levy to the Living Wage. Speaking at today's CBI conference, the Tesco boss suggested that government did not allow retailers enough of a say [...]
Autumn Statement 2015: John Lewis and Sainsbury’s leaders meet with Treasury ministers over £8bn business rates burden November 10, 2015 The leaders of two of Britain’s biggest retailers have held talks with the government to demand for urgent reforms to the burdensome business rates regime ahead of the chancellor’s Autumn Statement. Sir Charlie Mayfield, the chairman of John Lewis Partnership, Sainsbury’s chief executive Mike Coupe, and Helen Dickinson, the director general of the British Retail Consortium [...]
Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2015: UK shoppers holding out to snap up bargains in November pushed October sales down November 10, 2015 UK retail sales were disappointing last month, according to a survey by the British Retail Consortium released today, suggesting that some shoppers may be holding out for some deals around Black Friday at the end of November. Retail sales decreased 0.2 per cent on a like-for-like basis from October 2014, when they were unchanged from the preceding [...]