British retail sales pick up in November December 4, 2012 UK retail sales improved slightly in November, according to figures released today by the British Retail Consortium. Like-for-like retail sales rose by 0.4 per cent in value compared to the same month last year, after falling 0.1 percent in October. Despite this analysts had hoped for stronger growth. Total retail sales rose 1.8 per cent [...]
Ocado to reveal its progress on road to profits February 3, 2013 OCADO will be in the spotlight this week as the online grocer reveals whether it is edging closer to making a profit. The firm has recently hired Sir Stuart Rose as chairman and is also gearing up to open a second distribution warehouse in Warwickshire. Ocado, which was founded in 2000, is yet to go [...]
Ex-KPMG retail head takes up BRC leadership January 1, 2013 THE British Retail Consortium, the retail lobby group, yesterday handed over its leadership to a new director general amid increasing turmoil on the high street. Helen Dickinson, a former KPMG retail consultant, officially took up the post, replacing former director general Stephen Robertson, who stepped down last month after five years at the helm. Dickinson, [...]
Jobs miracle sees record number of Brits in work January 23, 2013 UNEMPLOYMENT plunged again in the three months to November, official figures showed yesterday, defying fears of a triple dip recession and bringing fresh hope that the economy is on the mend. Employment jumped 90,000 to a new record high of 29.68m while unemployment dropped again to 2.49m. Full time employment drove that increase, rising by [...]
High street hit as customers shop online December 12, 2012 CUSTOMERS are increasingly deserting the high street to do their Christmas shopping online, according to two data releases out this morning. Last week, retailers saw 1.7 per cent fewer customers entering their shops than last year, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC)-Springboard Footfall Monitor, out this morning. Shopping centres were hit especially hard with [...]
UK consumer price index is forecast higher January 13, 2013 UTILITY prices are expected to have lifted the UK’s consumer price index (CPI), the household spending index due out tomorrow along with a swathe of housing and retail data. “We expect CPI inflation to have edged up to 2.8 per cent year on year in December from 2.7 per cent, and retail price index (RPI) [...]
Short-term leases for start-up stores January 13, 2013 FIGURES from the British Retail Consortium tell a story familiar to any casual high street visitor. As of November 2012, 11.3 per cent of all UK shops lay empty, with shopping centres laid waste by the collapse of Woolworths, Comet, and Jessops. This isn’t exactly good news for newer retailers. The reasons behind the fall [...]
UK food prices propping up shopping costs January 8, 2013 FOOD prices remained well above their December 2011 levels last month, despite creeping down marginally compared to November. The annual rate of food price inflation was 4.1 per cent in December, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said this morning, down from 4.6 per cent in the year to November. This fall comes off the back of a [...]
Shoppers desert UK high streets January 20, 2013 BRITISH shops were abandoned in the run up to Christmas, new figures showed today, with hard-pressed consumers increasingly staying away from the high street, out of town retailers and shopping centres. Online sales soared upwards to account for over 10 per cent of total sales, leaving traditional shops to bear the brunt of the country’s [...]
January Bank rates are likely to stay steady January 7, 2013 THE European Central Bank (ECB) is likely to keep interest rates on hold when it meets for its first policy meeting this year, analysts predict. “We believe the continued improvement in the forward-looking survey data will have been sufficient to stay the hand of those on the council who last month were willing to wait [...]