Shoppers wary about life after lockdown as restrictions cost UK retailers £2.7bn a week April 30, 2020 Most shoppers are wary about hitting the high street when the coronavirus lockdown is relaxed, the latest research indicated, as it was revealed that UK retailers have lost out on £2.7bn in sales each week. The lockdown, which forced all non-essential UK retailers to close from 23 March, has cost the industry £2.7bn in lost [...]
London retail rents to drop as occupier demand falls April 30, 2020 London retail rents are expected to dive this year as occupier demand has plummeted due to the coronavirus crisis, according to the latest research. In the first quarter of the year, occupier demand for retail fell to a net balance of minus 75 per cent, while office space demand declined to minus 18 per cent. [...]
Restaurant bosses to beg ministers to extend UK coronavirus lockdown April 29, 2020 Restaurant industry bosses are set to urge the government not to end the UK coronavirus lockdown too soon, warning the move would cause permanent closures. Celebrity chefs Rick Stein and Tom Kerridge are among the restaurateurs to sign a letter to business secretary Alok Sharma and Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove, which will be sent [...]
Waitrose hires ex-Sainsbury’s director as new boss April 29, 2020 Waitrose has appointed former Sainsbury’s buying director James Bailey as its new boss to steer the supermarket through the coronavirus crisis. Bailey, who worked for Sainsbury’s for 18 years, will join the John Lewis Partnership as an executive director today and will be responsible for managing the supermarket’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. He will [...]
Housebuilder Persimmon confident in outlook as construction sites reopen April 29, 2020 Housebuilder Persimmon said customer enquiries have remained at good levels throughout the UK coronavirus lockdown so far as the developer pushes ahead with the phased reopening of its construction sites. The company said steady customer enquiries provided “some encouragement on the resilience of demand” during the coronavirus crisis. Persimmon’s current forward sales position is “robust” [...]
Next warns sales could drop 40 per cent this year after steeper decline than expected April 29, 2020 High street retailer Next warned this morning that full-year sales could dive as much as 40 per cent after the impact of coronavirus on trading was “faster and steeper” than expected. Next’s share price dropped as much as four per cent after the retailer said total full price sales including interest income were down 38 [...]
Dixons Carphone scraps dividend but reports strong online trading during coronavirus lockdown April 29, 2020 Dixons Carphone will not pay a dividend to shareholders this year due to the coronavirus crisis, the company said this morning as it reported strong online trading during the lockdown. The retailer said its closed stores in the UK, Ireland and Greece would have been expected to contribute an extra £400m this year. However, online [...]
London pedestrian traffic jumps as UK coronavirus lockdown fatigue sets in April 28, 2020 Pedestrian traffic across the capital jumped last week despite restrictions on movement as UK coronavirus lockdown fatigue began to set in and more people got back to work. In the seven days to 27 April the Central London Streets index was 10.70, down 90 per cent on this time last year but an increase of [...]
McDonald’s trials social distancing measures ahead of reopening April 28, 2020 McDonald’s will trial reopening its restaurants behind closed doors this week as the fast food giant prepares for life after lockdown. The company said it will carry out some operational tests this week to “explore what our reopening might look like”. The restaurant will remain closed to the public while tests are carried out. McDonald’s [...]
Tesco expands online order capacity to 1m slots a week during coronavirus crisis April 28, 2020 Tesco has expanded its online shopping capacity to 1m slots, almost double the number of orders the supermarket was able to fulfil before the coronavirus crisis. The grocer, which previously had between 500,000 and 600,000 slots available each week, will expand its capacity further to 1.2m orders per week as demand for deliveries continues to [...]
