Healey funds high street tax cuts with raid on gambling firms and online sellers Retail The government will fund tax breaks for small high street shops by hiking taxes on gambling and cracking down on online sellers, John Healey said. In his first Budget, the Chancellor said he will slash taxes on the high street by raising the threshold at which small firms start paying business rates from £12,000 to [...]
Retail sales fall faster than expected ahead of Budget Retail Retail sales fell at a faster pace than expected in September, new figures have shown, as consumer confidence suffered a major drop ahead of the Budget. Total sales at retailers fell 0.4 per cent in September, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), a bigger drop than the 0.1 per cent forecast by City [...]
Poundland owner could carve out Irish business in rush sale Retail Poundland’s owners are considering selling off the discount retailer and its Irish branch, Dealz, in two separate transactions, City AM has learned. Gordon Brothers, which bought Poundland and Dealz only a year ago, is sounding out interest in the two retailers in hopes of completing a deal before the busy Christmas trading period. This process [...]
‘Ultrasound cakes’ help fuel sales surge at London-listed Cake Box June 30, 2026 A surge in demand for ‘ultrasound cake’ has helped drive record sales at one of the UK’s biggest bakeries. Cake Box, which operates hundreds of stores across the UK, posted a 9.3 per cent rise in organic turnover to £45.9m for the year to end March as the firm set its sights on opening dozens [...]
Superdrug owner eyes up London float in $30bn dual listing May 23, 2026 The owner of Superdrug is eyeing up a blockbuster London float as part of a $30bn dual listing later this year. AS Watson, which owns the health and beauty retailer, plans to raise about $2bn by listing its shares in both London and Hong Kong before the end of 2026. The Superdrug owner would join [...]
WH Smith successor to shut 150 stores in ‘aggressive’ restructuring May 6, 2026 The owner of WH Smith’s former high street stores is set to shut as many as 150 of them as part of an “aggressive” overhaul which will put jobs at risk. Modella Capital bought the stationer’s 480 high street stores for £40m last year, and is now set to shut more than a quarter of [...]
Tesco snaps up shuttered Amazon Fresh sites in convenience store push February 9, 2026 Tesco plans to open over 70 Express stores across the country by March next year, including at least five new sites in London. In a statement released today, the supermarket chain confirmed it had acquired five former Amazon Fresh stores across the capital. These sites – in Kensington High Street, Hounslow, Moorgate, Aldgate East, and [...]
High street jewellery giants struggle to sparkle November 5, 2025 Growth seems to be hard to come by in almost any industry at the moment, especially as UK business leaders brace for Chancellor Rachel Reeves to deliver her expected tax hikes later this month. But the latest set of financial results for two of the country’s largest jewellery chains has shone a spotlight on the [...]
Co-op warns 150,000 jobs at risk ahead of Autumn Budget October 13, 2025 The Co-op has warned that 60,000 small shops and 150,000 jobs could be lost without business rates reform in next month’s Autumn Budget. The Manchester-headquartered group has said Britain’s high streets “face a critical moment” and that Chancellor Rachel Reeves needs to announce “maximum” business rates relief on 26 November. The call comes after City [...]
Greggs: Have we finally reached ‘peak sausage roll’? July 2, 2025 Greggs share price took a battering this morning as investors shied away from the high street bakery after a disappointing sales update. While Greggs blamed the slowdown on hot weather reducing demand for steak bakes and sausage rolls, analysts have pointed to more serious underlying issues. The unexpected announcement was the latest in a string [...]