By: Felix Armstrong

Retail Reporter Felix Armstrong is City AM's retail reporter, covering retail, hospitality and property news. He has previously written for The Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph and The i Paper. Email Felix at Felix.Armstrong@cityam.com

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Tesco lifts profit outlook as consumer confidence ‘resilient’

October 8, 2026

Tesco has lifted its profit outlook after seeing a boost in online sales, as the UK’s largest supermarket said consumer confidence is proving “resilient” despite an “uncertain external backdrop”. The FTSE 100 grocer improved its lower-end operating profit target from £3bn to £3.15bn for the full year, leaving its top-end forecast at £3.3bn. Industry figures [...]
Retailers demand energy bill cuts as costs rise by £440m

October 8, 2026

Retailers have urged John Healey to slash green policy costs from energy bills, warning that their electricity costs are set to soar by £440m this year. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) – which represents top retailers including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer – has warned that rising “policy costs” on energy bills will inevitably [...]
Shein UK revenue hits £2.5bn despite IPO woes

October 7, 2026

Fast-fashion giant Shein took in more than £2.5bn in UK revenue last year as it tightens its hold on British shoppers despite its IPO woes. The e-commerce firm generated £2.58bn in revenue in 2025, newly published accounts show, as its pre-tax profit widened by 18 per cent to £45m. Proof of Shein’s growing presence in [...]
Billionaire Weston family buys Boots for $9bn

October 7, 2026

The billionaire Weston family has struck a deal to buy Boots for nearly $9bn, scuppering hopes that the high street giant could return to the London Stock Exchange. Wittington Investments, the holding company for the Westons’ Canadian operations, said on Wednesday it will buy Boots from its private equity owners, Sycamore Partners. The deal brings [...]
Mike Ashley’s Frasers builds stakes in Burberry and Under Armour

October 7, 2026

Frasers Group, the retail empire founded by Mike Ashley, has taken a stake in athleisure giant Under Armour and built up its holding in fashion house Burberry. The London-listed conglomerate, which owns Sports Direct and Flannels, has pushed up its position in the FTSE 100 fashion brand from 4.2 to 6.3 per cent of the [...]
Hollywood Bowl calls on dynamic pricing as heatwaves hit sales

October 7, 2026

Hollywood Bowl called on its dynamic pricing system to endure falling ten-pin demand during the summer’s record heatwaves, prompting a share price boost. Britain’s biggest ten-pin bowling operator said the summer’s “exceptionally prolonged, dry weather” had “heavily impacted” its trading, as UK like-for-like revenue fell 5.6 per cent in the second half of this year. [...]
Former Whitbread bosses mastermind takeover of Beefeater restaurants

October 7, 2026

Former senior managers at Whitbread have advised on a deal to buy back nearly 60 restaurants from the group, after it wound up its Beefeater and Brewers Fayre chains last month. Common Table Group, a British hospitality firm, has agreed to buy 57 restaurant sites and one Premier Inn hotel from the FTSE 100 hotels [...]
House prices fall faster in London as property market stays ‘subdued’

October 7, 2026

House prices in London fell at a faster rate last month, as homeowners in the capital continue to bear the brunt of the property market slowdown caused by the Iran war. The average house price in London fell by 2.2 per cent to £531,548 in the year to September, according to the Lloyds house price [...]
Sainsbury’s merger talks mark end of supermarket big four

October 7, 2026

It is approaching a decade since Mike Coupe, then Sainsbury’s boss, was caught on a hot mic singing “we’re in the money” as his supermarket announced its impending takeover of rival grocer Asda. He was forced to apologise for the outburst, which was caught on camera while he waited to be interviewed by ITV News. “This [...]
Governments should spend more on welfare to tackle cost of living, says IMF

October 6, 2026

Governments across the world should prioritise targeted welfare support for low income households over broader measures like tax cuts to ease the cost of living, the International Monetary Fund has said. Policymakers should do more to protect vulnerable households from surges in inflation caused by geopolitical events like the Iran war, the IMF says in [...]

Google, OpenAI and Anthropic back £100m UK AI biosecurity lab

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By: Felix Armstrong

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