Soaring food inflation erases effect of falling non-food prices December 4, 2012 ANNUAL food price inflation accelerated in the year to November, but a return to deflation in some non-food prices provided a counterweight to keep overall shop price inflation steady. Food was 4.6 per cent more expensive in November than it was a year before, according to data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC), an inflation rate 0.6 [...]
Retailers post weak sales rise as shoppers delay Xmas spree December 3, 2012 RETAILERS are pinning their hopes on a late Christmas boost, after a mixed November that saw consumers continue to delay parting with their pennies. Like-for-like retail sales edged up 0.4 per cent in November compared with a year earlier, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG sales monitor showed this morning. While an improvement on [...]
Online shopping is masking the birth of hybrid retailers January 15, 2013 THE fall of yet another iconic British retailer, HMV, does little to assuage fears that the high street in its current form is in terminal decline. The statistics are bleak. According to a survey by PwC and the Local Data Company, 32 stores closed each day in July and August 2012. Over one gloomy five [...]
Statement brings halt to £425m rates hike on small businesses December 5, 2012 BUSINESS rate relief will not halve in April, as planned, but will be extended into 2014, it was revealed yesterday. Businesses using only one property, with a rateable value of £6,000 or less, currently pay nothing whatsoever in business rates – but were set to lose half their rate relief as the measure expired at the [...]
FTSE 100 flat on US budget uncertainty December 4, 2012 The FTSE 100 was broadly flat in early trading as uncertainty continued over the fate of US budget talks to avert January’s so-called “fiscal cliff”. The White House has dismissed a budget deal proposal from congressional Republicans that included tax reforms and spending cuts, saying it did not meet President Barack Obama’s pledge to raise [...]
BRC sees retail sales dip ahead of Christmas as food price inflation rises November 6, 2012 SHOP price inflation climbed in October, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) revealed yesterday, as food prices boomed. Shop prices rose 1.5 per cent in the year to October, the data showed, up from the one per cent growth in the year to September. This increase was driven by a four per cent climb in food [...]
Retailers slam tax on crockery from China November 15, 2012 AN EU tax on imports of Chinese crockery has been condemned by retailers as pointless and harmful to the poor. The European Commission yesterday announced the tax in response to claims by an anonymous EU manufacturer that Chinese producers are pushing their products onto the European market at artificially low prices. The taxes will add [...]
UK retail sales fizzle out after spending falls November 5, 2012 SIGNS of improved spending on the high street have proved to be something of a damp squib after retail sales in October slowed to their lowest growth in 11 months. Following strong sales the previous month, like-for-like retail sales fell 0.1 per cent in October compared with the same time last year, the British Retail [...]
Floor price for alcohol will hit poor hardest November 28, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT yesterday unveiled plans to introduce minimum prices for alcohol, despite concerns that such a move will penalise ordinary drinkers. The home office proposals include a ban on multi-buy promotions and a minimum unit price of 45p in England and Wales. As a result a one litre bottle of Gordon’s gin – currently available from [...]
The good, the bad January 10, 2013 THE DIVIDED state of the UK retail sector was brought into sharp focus yesterday as an upbeat Tesco and Shop Direct claimed victory in the Christmas retail wars, while Marks and Spencer suffered the fallout of a worse-than-expected festive period. Following muted performances by rivals Sainsbury’s and Morrisons, a resurgent Tesco revealed its strongest sales [...]