Retail news

• Green agrees deal with UK pensions regulator

  04-06-2019 22:58
  Move comes ahead of key vote on company voluntary agreement fort Arcadia on Wednesday
  
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• Woodford's fall shows that investment genius rarely lasts | Nils Pratley

  04-06-2019 20:56
  Why did it take independent outsiders such as Hargreaves and the FCA so long to notice?You can find (at least for now) a short video on Woodford Investment Management’s website in which the man himself, back in September 2017, addresses a burning question: “Has Neil Woodford lost it?” Woodford’s answer, naturally, is that he still has “it”, just as he did in 1999 when he sat out the dotcom bubble and was vindicated within a year.But the date on the video is in
  
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• Woodford's fall shows that investment genius rarely last | Nils Pratley

  04-06-2019 20:56
  Why did it take independent outsiders such as Hargreaves and the FCA so long to notice?You can find (at least for now) a short video on Woodford Investment Management’s website in which the man himself, back in September 2017, addresses a burning question: “Has Neil Woodford lost it?” Woodford’s answer, naturally, is that he still has “it”, just as he did in 1999 when he sat out the dotcom bubble and was vindicated within a year.But the date on the video is in
  
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• Packaging-free trial: Waitrose hits the ground running

  04-06-2019 20:27
  Refilling stations and cotton bags replace plastic packages receiving positive response in Oxford“We’d sold out of porridge oats and muesli by lunchtime and fusilli pasta is getting low,” said Tor Harris, pointing to the rainbow-like row of 28 vertical perspex dispensers filled with dried foods from red lentils to pumpkin seeds and quinoa.Harris, head of corporate social responsibility for Waitrose, was striding the aisles at the store in central Oxford to gauge customers&rsquo
  
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• Ex-John Lewis boss calls for online retailers to pay more tax

  04-06-2019 20:19
  Overhaul business rates and turn town centres into ‘free trade zones’, says Andy StreetThe former boss of John Lewis has said online retailers such as Amazon should pay more tax and that a solution for struggling town centres would be to turn them into “free trade zones”.Andy Street, who became the mayor of the West Midlands two years ago, said high-street retailers were being crippled by an outdated business rates regime in need of an overhaul.What's the problem? Continu
  
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• The Guardian view on phasing out packaging: back to the plastic-free future | Editorial

  04-06-2019 19:35
  An effort by Waitrose to reduce polluting waste is welcome, but kicking our rubbishy habits will require more than a nudgeWhat until recently would have looked like a quaint throwback to an old-fashioned high street is, at a Waitrose branch in Oxford, now at food retail’s cutting edge. The supermarket has unveiled a scheme that follows the example of a growing number of independent eco-grocers, but could, given its scale, have a much bigger impact if successful. The pilot store will offer
  
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• Sainsbury's boss paid £3.9m despite collapse of Asda merger

  04-06-2019 19:24
  Mike Coupe’s remuneration follows row over changes to pay of thousands of employeesThe chief executive of Sainsbury’s is “in the money” once again with a £251,000 increase in pay despite the collapse of a planned merger with Asda.Mike Coupe’s total pay increased to nearly £3.9m, as his annual bonus rose nearly 40% to £593,000, according to the company’s annual report which was published on Tuesday. Continue reading...
  
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• France to ban the destruction of unsold consumer products

  04-06-2019 18:31
  More than €650m worth of new goods destroyed or thrown away each year, says PM’s officeFrance’s prime minister has announced a crackdown on the destruction of unsold or returned consumer products, a move that will affect luxury goods brands as well as online retailers such as Amazon.Edouard Philippe said a ban on destroying non-food goods – including clothes, electrical items, hygiene products and cosmetics – would come into force within the next four years. Related:
  
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• France to ban destruction of unsold consumer products

  04-06-2019 18:31
  More than €650m worth of new goods destroyed or thrown away each year, says PMFrance’s prime minister has announced a crackdown on the destruction of unsold or returned consumer products, a move that will affect luxury goods brands and online retailers such as Amazon.Edouard Philippe said a ban on destroying non-food goods – including clothes, electrical items, hygiene products and cosmetics – would come into force within the next four years. Related: A quiet revolution sw
  
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• Tiffany: ring cycle

  04-06-2019 18:27
  While uncertainty hangs over China trade, US company’s shares are unlikely to regain sparkle
  
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• Boots were high street pioneers | Letters

  04-06-2019 18:04
  Both WH Smith and Boots worked with the Association for Town Centre Management to improve town centres, writes Richard HaywardRe “Boots to close 200 stores as online shopping trends rise” and “WH Smith ‘worst retailer of the year’” (29 May). Sad news for many high streets, especially given the prominence of both WH Smith and Boots for more than two decades (from the end of the 1980s) in working with the Association for Town Centre Management, other retailers a
  
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• Mummy, where do bigots come from? | Brief letters

  04-06-2019 18:03
  Homophobia | Packaging-free shops | Neil Hughes | Trampolining | Railway arches | BirthdaysIf science can be used to help understand people’s sexuality (Science may ‘produce an answer’ to being gay, says Brexit party MEP Widdecombe, 3 June) maybe it could also be used to discover what makes some people bigots.
  Ian Grieve
  Gordon Bennett, Llangollen canal • Waitrose launches packaging-free trial (Report, 4 June). Great, but they are not the first supermarket to do so. We reg
  
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• Sainsbury’s Coupe gets pay rise despite failed Asda deal

  04-06-2019 17:17
  Retailer awards bonuses after lifting profit, cutting net debt and raising dividend
  
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• Tiffany trims profit outlook as it factors in higher China tariffs

  04-06-2019 14:41
  Jeweller also faces ‘dramatic’ fall in foreign tourist spending and hit from strong dollar
  
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• AO World suffers widening losses in Europe

  04-06-2019 13:36
  Shares slide on German woes but online electricals retailer reassures on UK growth
  
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• Sir Philip Green close to deal over Arcadia pension deficit

  04-06-2019 13:22
  Former billionaire, who has been asked for £50m, is aiming to restructure Topshop ownerSir Philip Green is understood to be close to agreeing a deal with regulators to plug a hole in Arcadia Group’s pension fund, paving the way for a rescue restructure of his fashion retail empire.An announcement could come as early as Tuesday afternoon. The move by the former billionaire follows a demand from the Pensions Regulator that he inject another £50m into the fund. This would come on
  
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• Sir Philip Green agrees to put £25m into Arcadia pension fund

  04-06-2019 13:22
  Former billionaire, who had been asked for £50m, is aiming to restructure Topshop ownerSir Philip Green has agreed to pump an additional £25m into Arcadia Group’s pension fund, in a deal with regulators that paves the way for a rescue restructure of his fashion retail empire.Green is understood to have handed security over additional property assets to the fund in response to a demand from the Pensions Regulator that he inject another £50m to fill the group’s pensio
  
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• Waitrose launches refillable zone to reduce packaging waste

  04-06-2019 09:51 via theretailbulletin.com
  Waitrose has launched a trial scheme where packaging has been removed from hundreds of items in-store to enable customers to fill their own containers with products. .
  
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• Network Rail stations report retail sales growth

  04-06-2019 09:51 via theretailbulletin.com
  Network Rail has reported that retail like-for-like sales at stations it manages increased by 2.42% in the three months to the end of March. On a total basis sales were up 6.84%.
  
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• May retail sales impacted by political and economic uncertainty

  04-06-2019 09:43 via theretailbulletin.com
  UK retail sales declined by 3% on a like-for-like basis last month as the country's political and economic uncertainty took its toll.
  
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• Intu hires chief financial officer

  04-06-2019 09:43 via theretailbulletin.com
  Shopping centre owner Intu has named Robert Allen as its new chief financial officer.
  
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• Jean-Charles Naouri puts the ‘computer in his brain’ to the test

  04-06-2019 06:00
  Welcome to Due Diligence, the FT’s daily deals briefing
  
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• Ecommerce groups warn over EU security rules

  04-06-2019 05:15
  Amazon, Stripe and Worldpay say anti-fraud measure could affect billions of dollars of online purchases
  
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• Waitrose launches packaging-free trial

  04-06-2019 01:01
  Oxford store offers refillable options for items such as alcohol, rice and cleaning materialsWaitrose has unveiled its vision of environmentally conscious shopping, offering customers the chance to buy food and drink that is completely free of packaging as part of a ground-breaking trial for a large retailer.In a new drive to try to eliminate unnecessary plastic and packaging, shoppers will be able to fill their own containers with a range of products from a series of dispensers, using the first
  
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• Retailers warn of fresh wave of job losses and store closures

  04-06-2019 01:01
  British Retail Consortium says sales are down 2.7%, blaming uncertainty over Brexit Britain’s retailers are warning of a fresh wave of job losses and store closures after its health check of consumer spending showed the biggest drop in almost a quarter of a century last month.Blaming the political uncertainty that also led to a contraction in manufacturing, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said sales were down 2.7% – the weakest performance since it began its monthly survey in 199
  
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