Arts and crafts giant Hobbycraft’s expansion drift undiminished with new stores and recruitment drive planned June 27, 2022 Several new stories and a recruitment drive are on the agenda of arts and crafts retail chain Hobbycraft as the company confirmed this morning it plans to continue its expansion after a lift in profits for the past year. The company said its adjusted pre-tax profit for the 2022 financial year was £15 million, which [...]
27-fold jump in number of foreign visitors flocking to Britain post-pandemic June 24, 2022 Scrapping coronavirus travel rules led to a 27-fold year-on-year increase in the number of overseas residents visiting the UK, new figures suggest. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said 2.1 million inbound visits were made in April, up from 81,000 during the same month last year. Spending by overseas residents in April hit £1.7 billion, [...]
Put it on expenses: Bite-size pub lunch and training will help City workers take proper screen break June 24, 2022 Leading pub chain Greene King is offering city workers a pub lunch and a pint along with ‘bite-size’ training sessions. In wake of the pandemic’s shake-up of the working week, the ‘Expensable Lunch’ will be launching at the start of next month, to improve people’s personal and professional development – while giving them a much-needed [...]
Checking out: CEO of travel giant TUI announces departure after more than 10 years in the job June 24, 2022 Fritz Joussen, the CEO of travel group Tui has announced his resignation after 10 years as boss of the firm and leading it through the pandemic. Joussen will step down from the German holiday giant at the end of September, when he will be replaced by the company’s chief financial officer, Sebastian Ebel. Mr Joussen [...]
Retail sales volumes fell last month as the cost of living crunch eats into April’s gains June 24, 2022 Retail sales volumes fell by 0.5 per cent last month, according to the latest figures, as the cost of living crisis eats away at gains made in April. While the figures suggest current inflation levels and concerns over a recession have Brits’ pinching their purse strings, sales volumes were 2.6 per cent above pre-pandemic levels, [...]
Bloom & Wild boss confident of blossoming growth despite cost of living crunch June 24, 2022 The co-founder of Bloom & Wild chats to CityA.M. about international acquisitions, venturing into physical retail and why, despite a cost of living crunch, demand for flowers is still growing. After launching in 2013, Aron Gelbard and Ben Stanway’s letter-box florist has reaped the rewards of an acceleration towards online amid the pandemic. Last year, [...]
Shares plunge for Naked Wines after bleak sales guidance warning June 23, 2022 Naked Wines’ shares tumbled by around 40 per cent on Thursday after the online wine retailer warned its sales would take a hit this year. The London-listed retailer cautioned its shareholders that sales could plunge by as much as four per cent in the year to the end of March. Naked Wines would “not pursue [...]
Amazon tells government online sales tax would wound small retailers using its platform June 23, 2022 An Amazon manager cautioned the government that a levy on internet heavyweights would cause serious damage to the UK’s small retailers, According to a report by Sky News, John Boumphrey, Amazon’s UK country manager, urged a Treasury minister against an online sales tax (OST) at a meeting with retail chiefs on Wednesday. A one per [...]
Chef and bartender shortages threaten to cost hospitality sector £21bn in lost sales June 23, 2022 A shortage of chefs and bartenders is set to wound the hospitality trade by some £21bn in lost sales. Nearly half of pub and restaurant operators (45 per cent) said they have been forced to slash trading hours or capacity, according to an industry-wide survey. Lost sales will cost an estimated £5bn loss in tax [...]
Stylish Stocks: Calvin and Tommy lead the way among best-performing fashion brands June 23, 2022 Even though people often associate the financial world with black suits, statistics, and little in the way of style, trading does have its fashionable side. Specifically, fashion stocks. From high-end brands such as Christian Dior and Ralph Lauren to high-street labels like Gap and Zara, retail shares are firmly on investors’ radar recently. Only yesterday, [...]