Summer sun and Olympic fever fail to reignite UK’s retail sales August 6, 2012 RETAIL sales failed to significantly recover last month despite improved weather and the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games, figures from the industry have revealed this morning. Like-for-like sales in UK shops were virtually flat in July, edging up just 0.1 per cent compared to a year earlier, according to the British Retail Consortium [...]
Drunk on golden memories of the Olympics – but reality will still make its sobering return August 12, 2012 SOMETIMES it’s best to start with a confession: here’s mine. Apparently I’ve been at work the last two weeks but frankly I don’t remember. The only thing I remember is the kaleidoscopic haze of an amazing party called London 2012. There was a brief moment last week when the dancing stopped to change the music. [...]
LONDON WEEK AHEAD August 5, 2012 UK economics will be in the sspotlight this week, with the rrelease of the Bank of England inflation report, UK Trade Balance, the Producer Price Index and BRC Retail Sales Monitor. Results are expected today from Catlin Group, Morgan Sindall and Telecity Group, while in the US Chesapeake Energy is set to reveal figures. EasyJet [...]
Deep discounts mitigate sharp retail sales fall July 19, 2012 RETAILERS were hit by bad weather in June, as consumers bought less food to barbecue and spent less than expected on the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) yesterday. The ONS’s retail sales index inched up 0.1 per cent by volume in June, compared to May, but [...]
Rain washes away June’s retail gains July 9, 2012 THE DIAMOND Jubilee and warm spell at the start of June gave retailers a great start to the month, according to industry data out today – but that rapidly disappeared as bad weather took over. Total retail sales were up 3.5 per cent compared with June 2011, while like-for-like sales – those covering the same [...]
HMV boss vows brand has high street future January 15, 2013 THE BOSS OF HMV said yesterday he was “convinced” the crisis-hit music chain still has a future on the high street, as a number of firms emerged as potential bidders for the company. Deloitte was officially appointed as administrator to HMV yesterday morning, putting 4,123 jobs at its headquarters and 223 stores at risk. But [...]
Estimates show GDP down 0.7pc in last quarter July 25, 2012 THE UK’S economy tanked in the second quarter, worsening the country’s double dip recession, according to preliminary figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released yesterday. GDP fell 0.7 per cent over the quarter, compared to a consensus expectation of 0.2 per cent, according to the preliminary estimate, which computes about 40 per cent [...]
Price pressures ease as food inflation slows July 3, 2012 THE SQUEEZE on consumer finances eased again in June, retail industry figures showed today, with shop price inflation falling to its lowest level in two and a half years. Inflation dropped to 1.1 per cent in the year to June from 1.4 per cent in May, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) – a [...]
Pull out the stops in a pop-up shop July 22, 2012 POP-UP shops have all the warning signs of a government gimmick: a catchy name, the retail sector’s celebrity-in-chief Mary Portas, and swarms of immodest politicians looking to take the credit. But beneath the layers of puff and guff is a steely policy that could help carve through a stifling regulation that ties the hands of [...]
Day the music died January 14, 2013 HMV has collapsed into administration after last-ditch attempts to save the crisis-hit music retailer came to an abrupt end last night, putting 4,000 jobs at risk and signalling the end of more than 90 years on the British high street. Deloitte, which has been advising HMV’s consortium of lenders led by Lloyds Banking Group and [...]