Small shops face £1.7bn debt, says report by ex-boss of Iceland July 16, 2021 Small shops are struggling under £1.7bn debt, the former retail chief of Iceland, has warned. Independent businesses’ borrowing increased fourfold during the pandemic, according to the report. While the money borrowed has allowed small shops to survive, the task of paying back the loans still looms over them, said Bill Grimsey, the author of the [...]
Hotel Chocolat records strong results following ‘promising’ in-store performance July 13, 2021 Hotel Chocolat have announced impressive revenue in their latest fiscal year results, seeing an increase of 21 per cent on 2020, while it is also up 24 per cent on 2019. With the ten weeks from 19 April to 27 June boosted by the reopening of the high street, the UK cocoa manufacturer saw its [...]
High streets see the most shoppers since the beginning of the pandemic July 8, 2021 The number of shoppers on high streets, in shopping centres and in retail parks last month was the highest since the beginning of the pandemic, but still notably behind 2019 levels. The largest gains in footfall were made on high streets, which continued to benefit from the reopening of hospitality, with the number of punters [...]
High streets may never recover to pre-pandemic levels, minister warns July 6, 2021 The number of shoppers on the high street may never again hit pre-Covid levels, as a combination of working from home and shopping online could permanently change consumer habits. Speaking to MPs on the Communities Select Committee, Luke Hall, minister for regional growth and local government, suggested a full recovery for the high street could [...]
UK shoppers sticking with online shops despite restrictions relaxing June 29, 2021 Online e-commerce sales continued to grow in April, despite the reopening of non-essential retail across the UK. Demand for e-commerce packaging, a barometer for industry and sector performance, grew 11.7 per cent in April, despite brick-and-mortar shops reopening in the same month. This followed a 35.6 per cent increase in demand in the year up [...]
Fishy business: US lab fails to find tuna DNA in Subway tuna sandwiches June 22, 2021 A US lab could not find tuna DNA in 60 inches of Subway sandwiches supposedly serving the fish. The lab performed PCR tests, commissioned by the New York Times, to find if samples of the sandwich filling contained one of five common tuna species. “No amplifiable tuna DNA was present in the sample and so [...]
Heavy rain waters down consumer enthusiasm as footfall slows June 21, 2021 Footfall fell by 3.1 per cent last week across all UK destinations, as rain put off shoppers from heading outside. The high street was the hardest hit area during the last week, with footfall falling 5.4 per cent, according to the latest data from Springboard. In shopping centres and retail parks, where less time is [...]
Empty stores on Oxford Street rise by a fifth in six months June 10, 2021 The number of empty stores on Oxford Street has risen by nearly a fifth since the start of 2021, as pandemic-led lockdowns took a toll on the high street. Some 17 per cent of stores on London’s most famous street have closed since January, according to research by Property Week. Among the most famous and [...]
Warm weather and half-term tempts shoppers back to the high street June 7, 2021 The number of shoppers in retail destinations rose by 11.6 per cent last week, with a combination of warm weather, a bank holiday and half-term tempting punters back to the high street. The number of shoppers on the high street rose by 17.4 per cent last week, according to the latest data from Springboard, while [...]
Online spending continues to drive retail sales despite shops open for business June 4, 2021 Online spending grew yet again last month, despite the high street being open for business, suggesting some consumer behaviours adopted during the lockdowns are here to stay. Total online spending rose nearly 10 per cent in May versus the same time last year, according to BDO’s High Street Sales Tracker, despite physical shops being open [...]