Vertu Motors upgrades trading performance following automotive tailwinds March 2, 2022 UK automotive retailer Vertu Motors has upgraded its trading performance for the year ended 28 February, as it continues to benefit from used and new cars’ gross margins. In a trading update published today, the group said it expected the adjusted profit before tax to be “not less than £75m,” after it delivered a significant [...]
Shop price inflation hits highest rate in more than a decade March 2, 2022 Shop price annual inflation surged to the highest rate since November 2011 last month, as households’ concerns about the cost of living increases. The rate hit 1.8 per cent in February, an increase from 1.5 per cent in January, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and NielsenIQ. Non-food inflation surged to 1.3 per cent [...]
Discount retailers benefit from cost of living crunch as shoppers head to Aldi and Lidl March 1, 2022 Grocery price inflation hit a new high of 4.3 per cent last month, with budget supermarkets luring shoppers in as the cost of living intensifies. Fresh data from Kantar reveals the fastest rate of inflation since September 2013, with the exception of the start of the pandemic when households panic bought essentials. Aldi and Lidl [...]
Exclusive: Ultimate Products’ airfryer maker brand receives €1m order from German retailer March 1, 2022 Homeware giant Ultimate Product has said its newly snapped-up kitchen electrical brand has inked a €1m order from a leading German hypermarket retailer. Ultimate Products, which owns legacy homeware brands including Salter and Beldray, told CityA.M. exclusively its German brand Petra had received its first substantial order from an unnamed retailer. The order is for [...]
ABF and Primark sales to surpass pre-Covid levels as consumers eye luggage and swimwear February 28, 2022 Associated British Foods (ABF), which also owns budget retail chain Primark, has said it is on track to surpass pre-Covid levels of sales and operating profit. The food manufacturer has been battling against inflation, alongside the rising costs of energy, but anticipates grocery revenue to inch two per cent higher than 2021. While Primark sales [...]
Petrol prices hit £1.51 per litre as cost of living crisis deepens February 28, 2022 UK petrol prices have broken records yet again following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has further driven fears of supply shortages and seen oil prices spike to over $100 per barrel for the first time since 2014. The latest fuel watch figures from motoring group RAC reveal that unleaded petrol hit a peak on Sunday, [...]
Distribution giant Bunzl reports slip in profits despite boost in revenues February 28, 2022 Distribution giant Bunzl reported a slip in profits today despite revenues rising 1.7 per cent, as its food and retail divisions rebounded from a pandemic slow down.
John Lewis ditches ‘never knowingly undersold’ pricing pledge February 25, 2022 John Lewis will ditch its iconic “never knowingly undersold” pricing pledge on the grounds it does not reflect the current retail landscape, as high street stores look to fend off competition from online retail giants.
Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group snaps up online retailer Studio after firm’s funding bid fails February 25, 2022 British retail conglomerate Frasers Group, which owns shops including House of Fraser and Evans Cycles, has acquired online and mail order shopping company Studio Retail Group, following the firm’s collapse earlier this month. Frasers Group – the firm initially set up as Sports Direct International by British retail billionaire Mike Ashley – has acquired Studio [...]
On the Beach posts promising results as travel sector recovers February 25, 2022 Package holiday retailer On the Beach said it had begun to see the first “green shoots of recovery” in the Autumn of 2021, before the recovery was spoiled by the spread of the Omicron variant. On the Beach said its sales in September and October 2021 were higher than they were before the pandemic, in [...]