British Retail Consortium appoints its first female chair August 28, 2025 The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has appointed Jo Whitfield as its new chair, the first woman in its history to hold the role. Whitfield will replace outgoing chair Andy Higginson, who has been in the position since September 2023. “I’m honoured to be joining the BRC as its first female Chair, and to be supporting [chief executive] [...]
Mark Kleinman: Gupta steeled for high-wire act to end without Liberty August 28, 2025 Mark Kleinman is Sky News’ City Editor and the man who gets the Square Mile talking in his weekly City AM column Gupta steeled for high-wire act to end without Liberty It’s crunch time – again. For Sanjeev Gupta, brushes with insolvency are nothing new. The steel tycoon has turned the process of snatching victory from the jaws of [...]
Retailers’ woes stretch into second day after bearish Deutsche note August 27, 2025 A sell-off affecting some of the UK’s largest retailers has extended into a second day, after an analyst warned the spectre of higher taxes in the Autumn Budget, a softening labour market and sticky inflation will dent consumers’ spending habits. Shares in AB Foods, Wickes and B&Q-owner Kingfisher all shed between one and 1.5 per [...]
Retail sales fall for eleventh consecutive month August 27, 2025 UK retail sales have continued their steady decline as price pressures weigh on already-stretched consumers, according to new data. The CBI’s monitor for annual retail sales was little changed at -32 in August, from -34 in July. “Weak demand and higher labour costs continue to put pressure on margins, dampening sentiment across the retail and [...]
Jubel CEO: ‘We’re doing something different and it’s working’ August 27, 2025 When CEO and founder of Jubel, Jesse Wilson, left his corporate role to create his own lager, he knew he wanted to carve out a peach-shaped niche in a saturated beer market. Since its launch in 2018, Jubel has reached that goal, with its trademark fruity lager on tap in nearly 1,500 pubs across the [...]
New Look owners line up Rothschild as high street chain prepares for possible sale August 24, 2025 The owners of New Look have appointed Rothschild to oversee a strategic review that could see the high street fashion chain change hands next year. Alcentra and Brait, which have controlled the retailer since 2020, tapped the investment bank after receiving unsolicited approaches from potential buyers, Sky News reported. No timeline has been set for [...]
JD Sports shareholders hoping for progress amid US consumer weakness August 24, 2025 JD Sports investors will be hopeful the retailer can show signs of progress next week after sales came under pressure at the start of the year. The impact of US tariffs and its overall performance in the US will be particularly in focus when it provides a half-year trading update on Wednesday 27 August. Shares [...]
JD Sports to provide update after tariff sales crunch August 23, 2025 JD Sports investors will be hopeful the retailer can show signs of progress next week after sales came under pressure at the start of the year. The impact of US tariffs and its overall performance in the US will be particularly in focus when it provides a half-year trading update on Wednesday August 27. Shares [...]
WH Smith shares tumble after retailer admits accounting blunder August 21, 2025 Shares in WH Smith tumbled on Thursday after the newsagent and travel retailer admitted to an accounting blunder that has wiped tens of millions of pounds from its profits. The FTSE 250 firm said a “financial review” identified an overstatement of around £30m of expected headline trading profit in its North America division that was [...]
No more interest rate cuts expected as inflation runs ‘miles above target’ August 20, 2025 No further interest rate cuts are expected to be made this year after inflation in the year to July was higher than economists forecast. Markets had priced in a 50 per cent chance of an interest rate cut being made at the Bank of England’s November meeting before fresh price growth data was published on [...]