What slowdown? New Look is bucking the high street’s trend, as profits leap June 7, 2016 Here's one retailer making hay while the sun shines: New Look, beloved of budget fashionistas, has reported a jump in profits – despite slowing confidence on the high street. The figures In a statement this morning, the UK's second-largest women's clothing retailer said revenues rose 5.4 per cent to £1.49bn in the year to the end of March, while pre-tax profits [...]
Women must have a crucial role in saving the high street – a retailer’s survival may depend on it June 7, 2016 Retailers will breathe a sigh of relief today as the joint British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG sales monitor for May shows a modest recovery on the high street. But the respite may be brief as customers remain cautious with their spending. The sector is facing many challenges. Too many retailers are disconnected from their [...]
Online shopping drove retail sales in May as high street stores sufferred June 7, 2016 Online shopping drove retail sales in May, as the high street faced the prospect of permanently declining footfall and the collapse of both BHS and Austin Reed. Growth in non-food products was up by 13.7 per cent in May year-on-year, a figure higher than both the three-month and 12-month averages of 9.9 per cent and 12.2 [...]
How Iglu.com founder Richard Downs is taking on the world in the growing market for cruise holidays June 7, 2016 The internet has turned the travel industry on its head, giving ordinary people unprecedented opportunities to create bespoke holidays that were once the preserve of the rich. But it’s not just online travel warehouses like Airbnb and Expedia that have pushed the traditional agent off our high streets. The internet has enabled specialist providers to thrive [...]
Retail sales back to growth in May as warmer weather encourages spending June 7, 2016 Retail sales picked up in May as consumers took to the internet to start their summer splurge. Sales grew by 1.4 per cent in the UK retail industry, following two months of flat-lining, in a welcome, if modest, boost to the struggling industry, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC). Once again, however, sales growth was driven [...]
Asda boss Andy Clarke to check out amid sales slump June 6, 2016 Asda CEO Andy Clarke, the longest-serving of the big four supermarkets' bosses, confirmed today he's stepping down. Asda's incoming chief operating officer Roger Burnley, who is not set to start his new job until October, is likely to be Clarke's successor. Asda poached Burnley, a former Sainsbury’s top director, last year to become Clarke's right [...]
Soubry says any wrongdoing over sale of BHS will be “taken very seriously” as MPs blast Sir Philip Green for the failure of the store June 6, 2016 Anna Soubry, minister for small business, industry and enterprise spoke strongly today in the House of Commons over the sale of BHS, saying any wrongdoing on the part of the directors of the company over its sale will be "taken very seriously." In a statement to the House of Commons, Soubry said: "Any wrongdoing will be taken very [...]
M&S set to reveal former chief executive Marc Bolland earned over £15m June 5, 2016 Marks & Spencer are set to unveil this week that the retail store's former chief executive Marc Bolland received over £15m during his years at the company. The firm's annual report is due out later this week and will include details of Bolland's remuneration since he took the helm in 2010. Bolland resigned in January, but will receive salary, [...]
Stream of new evidence, including further details from Anthony Gutman of Goldman Sachs, creating yet more confusion about BHS £1 sale June 3, 2016 The stream of evidence being drip fed to MPs about the £1 sale of BHS is creating further confusion and questions, the chair of the work and pensions committee said today. Commenting on further details his committee had recently received, Frank Field remarked that what he was now learning was causing him to question some of [...]
Could a focus on customer experience have saved BHS? June 3, 2016 Retailers have learnt harsh lessons about failing to stay relevant; the collapse of BHS is just the latest casualty. Like Woolworths and GAME before it, when BHS went into administration, the most common reaction was shock. However, the downfall of BHS cannot be considered a surprise. The company failed to keep up with the internet revolution and being outmanoeuvred [...]