WH Smith’s decline: A cautionary tale of bad branding March 31, 2025 As WH Smith disappears from the high street, Will Bosanko looks at why the brand failed, and asks whether there is a future for TG Jones.
FTSE 100 retail giant Next passes £1bn profit milestone for the first time March 27, 2025 Next has joined a small group of UK retail companies in reporting more than £1bn in annual profit. The high street bellwether told markets this morning that its profit before tax for the year to January 2025 was £1.01bn, up 10.1 per cent year on year. Its share price rose more than eight per cent [...]
TSB’s new boss takes helm amidst parent company’s uncertainty March 21, 2025 UK retail bank TSB announced on Friday that Marc Armengol had taken over as its new chief executive officer. Armengol, who previously served as corporate strategy director at the lender, was tapped for the role in November 2024. His appointment follows the retirement of former boss Robin Bulloch. Before joining TSB, Armengol worked at the [...]
Two thirds of large UK shops to pass on higher business rates to consumers March 18, 2025 Two thirds of businesses subject to the government’s new ‘super tax’ business rate multiplier will increase prices to combat cost pressures, a survey has found. The effect would be to increase prices in flagship retail stores by around three per cent, according to High Streets UK. “[The higher multiplier] would be a disaster for jobs, [...]
Confidence boost for UK shoppers fails to improve high street retail sales March 11, 2025 High street retail sales continued to fall in February despite a confidence boost for UK consumers, a survey has found. Overall, retail sales increased by 1.1 per cent in February, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).However, this was driven by food sales, which grew 2.3 per cent year-on-year. Non-food sales were flat in February, [...]
High street firms facing extra £1bn tax bill next month as relief slashed March 10, 2025 Shops, restaurants and pubs across England are facing an extra £1bn in taxes when a discount is cut next month, adding to a “tsunami” of rising costs hurtling toward the sector, according to new analysis. Businesses in London will be hit hardest by changes, tax and software firm Ryan found. Firms in the retail, leisure [...]
HMV: Sales on song as billionaire owner helps turn around high street icon March 6, 2025 Sales at HMV have more than doubled in the last three years as its recovery under the ownership of Canadian billionaire Doug Putman continues at pace. The high street staple has reported a turnover of £189.5m for the 12 months to 30 May, 2024, up from the £177.9m it achieved in the prior year. The [...]
‘Sell’ Greggs shares analysts say after poor results March 4, 2025 High street bakery Greggs has reported a double-digit increase in sales for 2024, taking it past the £2bn sales milestone for the first time. However, its share price fell more than eight per cent in early trades, which analysts attributed to a slowdown in sales growth. “Profits are up but it’s not the stellar performance [...]
Concern for British high street deepens with flat February sales February 28, 2025 Online shopping drove retail sales in February, offsetting flat in-store sales on the high street. In-store sales were lower in real terms in February, meaning that actual sales volumes shrank year on year, according to accountancy and business advisory firm BDO. Total like-for-like sales grew by 2.3 per cent in February. Retailers faced particularly challenging [...]
Retail crime bill goes before Parliament – but it doesn’t include delivery drivers February 25, 2025 The government’s crime and policing bill will go before Parliament today, February 25, but detractors have said it does not go far enough to protect delivery drivers. Although delivery drivers do not qualify as retail employees due to their status as self-employed, a group of businesses have campaigned to extend the bill’s scope to cover gig [...]