JD Sports warns of ‘muted growth’ amid weak consumer spending May 7, 2026 JD Sports has seen profit fall as the sportswear retailer warned it is preparing for a period of “muted” growth amid weak consumer spending and potential Iran war cost pressures. Pre-tax profit at the FTSE 100 firm fell by 12 per cent to £629m in the year to January, even as sales rose by 12 [...]
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 [...]
Boss of B&Q owner quits after poaching by Dutch supermarket May 6, 2026 Thierry Garnier, the chief executive of B&Q owner Kingfisher, has said he will step down after being poached by a Dutch-Belgian retail giant. The French businessman has helmed the FTSE 100 firm, which also owns Screwfix and home improvement brands across Europe, for nearly seven years. Garnier will become president and chief executive of Ahold [...]
‘Political choice’: Retailers urge government to act on rising costs May 6, 2026 Retailers have urged the government to cut tax and red tape to counter soaring energy costs caused by the Iran war. The British Retail Consortium (BRC), an industry trade body, has accused Labour of making a “political choice” not to cut energy taxes and delay costly regulation to avoid the worst shop inflation. The effective [...]
Supermarket inflation: Falling oil prices help keep costs down at the till May 6, 2026 Thank goodness for the price of oil. No, not Brent crude – the stuff that has sent costs at the pump up sharply since the outbreak of war in Iran – but cooking oil. A 500ml bottle of rapeseed oil fell by an average of 14 per cent between April and May across three supermarkets [...]
Controversial £2bn packaging tax could be scrapped as food inflation looms May 5, 2026 The government is reviewing a controversial £2bn sustainable packaging tax as it faces increasing pressure from retailers to prevent food prices from soaring. The Treasury is reportedly looking at potential changes to the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) tax, which requires large businesses to pay towards the cost of disposing of their packaging. Retailers have been [...]
Blackstone, Saudi wealth fund collect £4m dividends from four Morrisons stores May 4, 2026 Private equity firm Blackstone and the Saudi sovereign wealth fund have handed themselves £4m in dividends from their ownership of four Morrisons supermarket buildings. The pair acquired the sites – in Maldon, Stockport, Harrogate and Newcastle – for £110m in 2023 as part of a sale and leaseback arrangement which saw the supermarket chain sell [...]
Dragon Soop owners hand themselves £4.3m dividend after profit rise May 4, 2026 The owners of Dragon Soop have handed themselves a dividend of £4.3m after the drinks brand toasted a rise in profit. Corinthian Brands, which is based in Knaresbrook and is owned by Paul Burton and John Hibberd, posted profit of just under £5m for 2025, a rise of 2.3 per cent on the previous year. [...]
Gamestop makes $56bn play for Ebay to take fight to Amazon May 4, 2026 Video game retailer Gamestop has made an unsolicited bid for e-commerce site Ebay in a bid to take the fight to Amazon. The world’s largest brick-and-mortar entertainment software retailer has made an offer to snap up Ebay that values the platform at $125 a share – a $20 premium on the stock’s closing price in [...]
Petrol retailers vindicated after Reeves ‘profiteering’ claims May 1, 2026 Petrol retailers have been vindicated of “price gouging”, pouring cold water on the government’s accusations of profiteering from the war in Iran. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found that higher fuel prices in the UK were caused by the rising cost of oil, rather than by retailers expanding their margins to profit from the [...]