Central London Alliance calls for government to cut VAT for hospitality, tourism and leisure January 23, 2024 Central London Alliance (CLA) calls on the Government to address the UK’s lack of competitiveness on the global tourism market, beginning with a cut to VAT for the hospitality, tourism and leisure industries. Figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show that visits to the UK increased 112 per cent year-on-year, generating £30 billion [...]
London Oxford Street spend slips as pressure mounts to scrap tourist tax January 23, 2024 Bosses behind Oxford Street are piling fresh pressure on the government to scrap the tourist tax after visitors failed to splash the cash over the Christmas period. Dee Corsi, who heads up the New West End Company, said footfall grew three per cent over the holiday season but customers kept their purses shut, with spending [...]
Agincourt, Waterloo, Sparkling Wine: English fizz makes further inroads into champagne lead January 23, 2024 Revenues and volumes both increased at Chapel Down, the market leader in the exploding English sparkling wine sector
Primark: Market share up as ABF thanks Rita Ora and late-arriving cold weather January 23, 2024 One in every seven pounds spent on clothing, footwear and accessories is now spent in ABF-owned Primark
Virgin Wines sees sales tick up despite ‘subdued’ consumer landscape January 22, 2024 Virgin Wines has reported that sales ticked up in the second half of 2023, despite a “subdued consumer economic landscape” which has weighed heavily on the sector's bottom line over the last year.
Canary Wharf hits new record as Docklands hub goes seven-days-a-week January 22, 2024 Retailers at Canary Wharf Group reported a record number of visitors last year, as the boss behind the operation hailed it as a “seven day week” operation.
Jeremy Hunt drops major tax cuts hint at Davos before March budget January 19, 2024 Chancellor Jeremy Hunt dropped another major hint about March’s much-anticipated budget, saying the “only direction of travel” is for the UK to embrace low taxation. Speaking at Davos in Switzerland, he said Britain should emulate other economies with low taxes, as the Conservatives gear up for an election later this year. Hunt, who will deliver [...]
Economy: Why the latest data makes a ‘technical’ recession seem (almost) inevitable – with pub spending the only white knight January 19, 2024 The UK appears set to enter recession - and even if the term is in some ways meaningless, it's still very bad news indeed
DFS cuts revenue guidance after muted UK retail Christmas January 19, 2024 The furniture retailer still expects to meet underlying profit guidance despite a fall in demand
Retail sales crash 3.2 per cent in December as struggling high street hits Covid-era low January 19, 2024 UK retail sales plummeted 3.2 per cent in December, well below analyst expectations and the largest monthly fall since January 2021 when coronavirus restrictions pushed down sales. Analysts had expected sales to fall by 0.5 per cent in the last month of the year, but a significant drop in both food and non-food store sales [...]