New Look looks to slash 70 jobs at London and Weymouth head offices in further shift to digital March 21, 2023 High street retailer New Look has put 70 job roles at its head offices in London and Weymouth at risk of redundancy. According to reports first published in Drapers, the move is understood to be part of a wider examination of the business and could impact several departments across the locations. It’s understood that employees [...]
Currys gives 10,000 staff fourth pay rise in 18 months with extra help for London workers March 21, 2023 Tech retailer Currys will increase wages for hourly paid staff for the fourth time in 18 months – with workers in the capital getting extra help. Pay for hourly paid store colleagues will rise to £10.50 across its stores in the UK and to £11.50 in London. The retailer revealed that the average store colleague [...]
Job Hunting? Three In-Demand Jobs In London This Week March 20, 2023 The London labour market is starting to cool, although we’re not quite facing the big freeze that many analysts had predicted––at least not yet. According to the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures, vacancies across the UK dropped in the three months to December 2022 (the sixth consecutive fall), but remained elevated at 1.16 [...]
Have Brits fallen out of love with DIY? B&Q and rival Wickes eye lower profits after costs soar and demand dwindles March 20, 2023 B&Q owner Kingfisher and rival Wickes are set to reveal falls in profits over the past year as surging costs dampen the outlook for the home improvements market. Kingfisher, which runs B&Q and Screwfix, has previously indicated its sales and profits have weakened over the past year, as it also saw DIY demand from locked-down [...]
American candy stores or retail hub? What might be next for Oxford Street March 19, 2023 It has been three years since the UK was plunged into its first-ever full scale lockdown – forcing the majority of stores in London’s West End to temporarily cease trading and arguably altering the state of physical retail forever. The pandemic forced once seemingly indestructible retailers such as Debenhams, Topshop, and Gap off Oxford Street, [...]
Explainer: Why Waitrose is no longer the jewel in the John Lewis crown and how the group’s future may lie in property, not produce March 17, 2023 Times are tough for John Lewis as chair Sharon White admitted when the high street stalwart this week announced it had made a £234m loss in 2022. The sum was worse than market expectations and marked the second year the upmarket retailer had gone into the red. In a sympathetic letter addressed to the company’s [...]
Short haul powers London Gatwick’s return to profit after £830m pandemic loss March 16, 2023 London’s second busiest airport, Gatwick, is “cautiously optimistic” about a full recovery from the pandemic as passenger demand levels reach 70 per cent of pre-covid levels. The West Sussex hub reported 32.8m passengers in 2022 as it announced a £250m investment in the site to reach net zero by 2030. In its annual results this [...]
Rail strikes: Hospitality says it has lost £3bn as it becomes ‘collateral damage’ in rail dispute March 16, 2023 London retail and hospitality bodies have said that the sector is “suffering” due to ongoing tube strikes as the disruptions continue to take a large bite out of the sector’s earnings. As Tube and rail strikes grind London to a halt this week, trade body UKHospitality has claimed that pub and restaurant businesses are expected [...]
The Square Mile and Me: James Ashton on Occupy London, the City’s history, and Balfour’s oysters March 16, 2023 Each week we ask the City’s great and good to delve down memory lane. This week, it’s James Ashton, the chief executive of the Quoted Companies Alliance, representing small- and mid-cap listed firms, and a former newspaper journalist What was your first job in the City? I wrote about advertising and media for Reuters, based [...]
Zara owner sees sales soar to £28.8bn as young shoppers shrug off cost of living crisis to splash cash on latest trends March 15, 2023 The owner of high street fashion chain Zara said young shoppers remained to spend cash on the latest trends despite rising inflation and the cost of living crisis. Inditex, which also owns popular brands such as Pull&Bear and Bershka, reported a sales growth of €32.6bn (£28.8bn) up 17.5 per cent from the same period last [...]