B&M: Festive season of bargain shopping helps ‘undistracted’ value retailer January 9, 2025 Value retailer B&M Bargains reported strong revenue growth throughout the golden quarter as consumers sought out low-discount options to meet their festive shopping needs. However, the caution imposed by a challenging environment ahead for the retail sector due to tax hikes and employment costs caused B&M shares to fall by 8.5 per cent today. In [...]
Give parliament a vote on quantitative easing January 9, 2025 QE should not be the preserve of bean-counting central bankers – money printing is not an abstract issue, it has real consequences for people’s ordinary lives, says Sam Bidwell If one thing characterises British politics in the post-Thatcher era, it is a serial addiction to avoiding questions about the structure of our economy. On the [...]
Crown Paints: Losses double as more jobs lost amid DIY downturn January 3, 2025 Crown Paints saw its pre-tax loss more than double as it shed further jobs despite sales rising, it has been revealed. In delayed accounts, the Lancashire-headquartered firm has reported a pre-tax loss of £16.1m for 2023. The figure comes after Crown Paints made a pre-tax loss of £8m in the prior 12 months. However, the [...]
Not-so-golden quarter: Retail footfall slumps in another disappointing year January 3, 2025 A dull December marked the end of yet another “disappointing” year for UK retail footfall as fresh data has revealed 2024 was the second year in a row to see a decline. According to recent Sensormatic data by the British Retail Consortium, UK footfall fell by 2.5 per cent year-on-year during the three months to December, [...]
Abel & Cole owner enters the red as it battles cost-of-living crisis January 2, 2025 The owner of organic vegetables box business Abel & Cole fell into the red despite sales increasing as it battled the impact of the cost-of-living crisis. William Jackson Food Group, which acquired Abel & Cole in 2012, has reported a pre-tax loss of £1.5m for the year to 27 April, 2024. The loss comes after the [...]
From Trump to COP: A look ahead to the political year in 2025 December 29, 2024 After a whirlwind of a political year in 2024, with elections in the US, UK and across much of the globe, 2025 is already shaping up to be another momentous 12 months. From the return of President Donald Trump to the White House in January, to the challenges ahead for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, [...]
Drop in Boxing Day footfall ‘signals return to declining pre-covid levels’ December 27, 2024 The slump in the number of people heading to the shops during Boxing Day sales signals a return to declining pre-pandemic levels, an analyst has said. Boxing Day shopper footfall was down 7.6 per cent from last year across all UK retail destinations up until 8pm, MRI Software’s OnLocation Footfall Index found. However, this year’s [...]
Retail in 2025: The year of personalisation, AI, wellness – and no more barcodes December 24, 2024 2024 has been a tough year for retail. From companies sounding the alarm on business rates in the first half of the year to low consumer confidence and footfall proving stickier than expected, the festive period has now been overshadowed by stark warnings about further cost rises next year. Restructuring partner at RSM UK, Gordon [...]
The class divide: Why social mobility is the missing piece in DEI December 19, 2024 Any DEI framework that’s focused on ethnicity but silent on the messy realities of social mobility risks letting down the very people it’s trying to champion, says Eliza Filby A couple of months ago I was running a workshop for trainees at an international law firm in the UK helping bright Gen Z recruits integrate [...]
Water bills set for hefty hike as Ofwat judgement looms December 18, 2024 The water regulator Ofwat is set to allow bills to rise by at least 21 per cent in the next five years, as part of its long-awaited decision on the financial future of the scandal-hit industry on Thursday. Ofwat will reveal its final determination for how much water firms are allowed to hike their bills [...]