Joules: Margins continue to be under pressure as shoppers seek out sale items July 19, 2022 Prestige retailer Joules has said discount-hungry consumers have intensified pressures on margins while expecting yearly profit to surpass expectations. The clothing and lifestyle brand admitted gross margins had “remained under significant pressure” after “consumer appetite” was focused on marked down products. Shoppers have been hunting for reductions amid monster hikes in energy and fuel bills, [...]
Supermarket shoppers face £454 extra to yearly grocery bill as inflation bites July 19, 2022 Shoppers are now facing a £454 increase to their annual supermarket bills, with grocery price inflation edging towards the highest level since 2008. According to the latest numbers from Kantar, grocery price inflation now sits at 9.9 per cent for the past four weeks. This marks the second highest level of inflation seen since 2008, [...]
Heatwave: Brits shun high street as businesses close to protect staff from scorching temperatures July 18, 2022 Brits have shunned the high street today as temperatures are expected to hit 40 degrees on Monday, while some businesses in London have closed. Office workers have shunned their workplace air-con and opted to avoid sweltering public transport, Springboard’s footfall figures reveal. Springboard’s ‘back to the office’ benchmark for central London office hubs shows that [...]
H&M to wind down business in Russia after reopening stores to get rid of clothes July 18, 2022 The world’s second-largest fashion retailer H&M has said it will start winding down business in Russia, citing “the unpredictability of the future.” The Swedish clothing chain also blamed “current operational problems,” after it suspended sales in the country on 2 March. It is the latest firm to confirm a more permanent withdrawal of business in [...]
Fever-Tree boss snaps up £1m worth of shares as tonic maker slashes profit guidance July 17, 2022 The boss behind tonic-maker Fever-Tree has coughed up more than £1m on shares after the firm suffered a huge blow last week. A concerning profit warning meant the London-listed company’s stock crashed by some 26 per cent late last week. Now, chief executive Tim Warrillow has bought 115,000 shares at 870.8p each while Fever-Tree’s chairman [...]
Taste the rainbow: Skittles ‘unfit for human consumption’, lawsuit claims July 17, 2022 Lawyers have claimed that Skittles are “unfit for human consumption”, alleging that the sweets contain a toxin called titanium dioxide. A lawsuit filed late last week in a northern California federal court against Mars Inc has sought class-action status. Skittles fans are “at heightened risk of a host of health effects for which they were [...]
Next apologises to staff for underpaying them for months after payroll malfunction July 17, 2022 Next has apologised to staff who have been underpaid for several months after a new IT system malfunctioned. Staff have been underpaid for months after payroll functions were outsourced to the US tech firm Oracle in February, according to The Sunday Times. The London-listed firm has been trying to solve the error for months, with [...]
M&S removes best before dates as 6.6m tonnes of food waste thrown away by households per year July 17, 2022 M&S will get rid of best before dates on hundreds of fresh produce in an endeavour to slash food waste in stores and households. The supermarket said it would remove best before dates from the labelling on more than 300 fruit and vegetable packages. Dates are to be replaced with a new code that shop [...]
Sale brewing? Starbucks considers disposal of 300-store strong UK operation July 17, 2022 Coffee giant Starbucks is mulling a possible sale of its UK operations against a backdrop of tough macroeconomic conditions. The global coffee titan had requested adviser and investment bank Houlihan Lokey to scout for interest in its UK arm, according to a report in The Sunday Times. Some 300 stores within Starbucks’ 1,000-shop strong UK [...]
Fast fashion: Mike Ashley’s retail behemoth Frasers Group eyes I Saw It First July 17, 2022 Mike Ashley’s retail empire may make a swoop for I Saw It First, an online fast-fashion brand owned by Boohoo founder Jalal Kamani. According to a report in The Telegraph, Frasers Group could add I Saw It First to its list of retail takeovers within a matter of weeks. The Telegraph’s sources told the newspaper [...]
