Fever-Tree shares fall as bar closures impact sales July 14, 2020 Fever-Tree’s share price fell more than five per cent this morning, as investors took stock of its trading update amid the coronavirus pandemic. While the first two months of this year were in line with the company’s expectations, the drinks maker said trading had been “dominated” by coronavirus from March onwards. Its so-called on-trade division [...]
Consumer spending surges as lockdown restrictions end July 14, 2020 Brits rushed back to the shops in June after lockdown restrictions ended, prompting the biggest jump in sales since May 2018 as consumers indulged in some much-needed retail therapy. According to new data from the British Retail Consortium, total sales rose 3.4 per cent in June in the first month of growth since lockdown measures [...]
DFS to cut jobs at Dwell and Sofa Workshop as revenue falls £271m July 14, 2020 Furniture firm DFS has announced that it will cut jobs as part of a restructuring programme after the coronavirus pandemic caused revenue to drop £271m year-on-year to £725m. The company said that the cuts would take place at subsidiaries Dwell and Sofa Workshop, and were necessary in order to maintain DFS’ “future competitiveness”. The restructurings [...]
Revenue soars at Ocado during lockdown July 14, 2020 Retail sales for the first half of 2020 for online grocer Ocado jumped 27 per cent to £1bn, as Brits did their supermarket shopping from home. The group reported a loss before tax of £40.6m in the six months to the end of May, citing an increase in investment to handle increased demand as a [...]
Lockdown London: A tale of two cities July 14, 2020 On Sunday evening, a friend and I had a game of tennis in a small unremarkable suburban local park. Surrounded by terraced houses, it is the kind of park of which there are 3,000 dotted across the capital. Too hilly for a game of football but with a couple of rarely used tennis courts for [...]
London tourism sector calls for urgent financial support to avert crisis July 13, 2020 London’s tourism sector has urged the government to provide it with a specific package of support, warning the coronavirus pandemic could create an economic crisis for the industry. In total 10,776 London attractions, restaurants, hotels, industry bodies and event organisers have written to the Prime Minister to call for investment and a plan for tourists [...]
Wetherspoon slashes prices after hospitality VAT cut July 13, 2020 Pub chain JD Wetherspoon will slash the price of a range of meals and drinks following the government’s decision to cut VAT for the hospitality industry. Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced last week that VAT will be reduced from 20 per cent to five per cent until next year. Wetherspoon said today that it will “fully [...]
Retail footfall growth doubles as consumers return to high streets July 13, 2020 Retail footfall growth more than doubled last week as consumers visited high street cafes, pubs and restaurants after lockdown restrictions were eased. Footfall across all UK retail destinations rose by 10.6 per cent last week compared to the week before. During the previous week footfall grew just 4.1 per cent, according to the latest research [...]
John Lewis to join Primark in rejecting government jobs retention bonus July 13, 2020 Department store chain John Lewis is expected to join Primark in rejecting the government’s offer of a job retention bonus. The chancellor last week announced that firms could claim a £1,000 bonus for each worker they bring back from furlough and continue to employ until at least January. John Lewis, which last week announced the [...]
Diageo to launch plastic-free Johnnie Walker bottles in 2021 July 13, 2020 Drinks giant Diageo will sell Johnnie Walker whisky in plastic-free bottles from next year as it seeks to reduce waste. The company announced this morning that it had created the fully recyclable bottle wood pulp that meets food grade standards in partnership with venture management firm Pilot Lite. The two firms launched a sustainable packaging [...]