Retail news

• Ocado buys 100,000 Covid-19 test kits to ensure 'safety for all'

  29-03-2020 18:25
  
  Food delivery firm says it will hand over testing equipment to the NHS if requiredCoronavirus – latest global updates
  See all our coronavirus coverageFood delivery company Ocado has said its decision to order 100,000 Covid-19 testing kits for staff would help keep grocery supplies flowing and protect both staff and the public, but promised to hand them over to the NHS if required.The firm said it wanted all of its staff to be tested regularly to ensure customers who cannot visit the shops
  
  Read more

• Ocado buys 100,000 Coivid-19 test kits to ensure 'safety for all'

  29-03-2020 18:25
  
  Food delivery firm says it will hand over testing equipment to the NHS if requiredCoronavirus – latest global updates
  See all our coronavirus coverageFood delivery company Ocado has said its decision to order 100,000 Covid-19 testing kits for staff would help keep grocery supplies flowing and protect both staff and the public, but promised to hand them over to the NHS if required.The firm said it wanted all of its staff to be tested regularly to ensure customers who cannot visit the shops
  
  Read more

• Tesco puts one item limit on essentials at some Express stores

  29-03-2020 16:37 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Tesco limits essential products to one per person
  // The limit applies to products such as eggs, loaves of bread, and toilet rolls
  // The new rule comes after customers continued to stockpileTesco has reportedly limited its customers to just one item of essential products per person across many of its Express stores as the coronavirus outbreak continues to prompt retailers into making changes.
  The Big 4 grocer had initially rationed its goods to five per person but later capped this to three
  
  Read more

• Philip Green urged not to use coronavirus as 'excuse' over pensions

  29-03-2020 16:24
  
  Billionaire Topshop magnate is planning to stop cash injections during pandemicBillionaire Sir Philip Green has been urged not to use coronavirus as an “excuse” to stop payments into the Topshop retirement scheme, according to a pension expert who called on Green’s Monaco-based wife Tina to plug any shortfall.Arcadia Group, the parent company of the Green family’s retail empire, is planning to halt cash injections into the firm’s pension fund, as it seeks to conserv
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Coronavirus: 90% sales drop forecast for M&S’s clothing & home

  29-03-2020 15:28 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // M&S clothing & home division could see its sales slump by up to 90% across March & April
  // In the 3 months to end of June, sales could fall up to 60%
  // In Europe, sales may drop by 30% in first half of the yearMarks & Spencer is expected to face up to a 90 per cent drop in sales at its clothing & home division as the coronavirus outbreak takes its toll on the already-struggling retailer.
  Wall Street analysts Goldman Sachs has forecast the sales slump for the retailer&rsq
  
  Read more

• Coronavirus: Co-op mulls 60 store closures to continue operating

  29-03-2020 15:02 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Co-op puts 60 stores under review
  // The store closures could be as a result of colleagues needing to self-isolate or a lack of visits in that particular area
  // CEO Steve Murrells said the retailer will continue to feed the “needy”The Co-op has reportedly said it will continue to deliver food to the “needy” amid the coronavirus pandemic, but more shops may have to close their doors.
  The retailer has closed 10 stores and has put another 60 under review as chief executi
  
  Read more

• High street's survival under threat as lockdown hits stores

  29-03-2020 09:59
  
  Coronavirus could lead to permanent closure of struggling town shops, say analystsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageFears that many of Britain’s high street shops will be forced to close down permanently despite the government’s emergency support were fuelled yesterday after a string of retailers said the coronavirus outbreak could make their businesses unviable.As the Restaurant Group said it would shut the majority of its Tex-Mex Chiquito restaurants
  
  Read more

• You know change is in the air when the likes of Ashley and Martin back down

  29-03-2020 09:00
  
  The pandemic has exposed business to such scrutiny that even Britain’s high street mavericks are cowedStrange things happen in a crisis. For one, it can dawn on Mike Ashley that pretending that a sports shop is an essential public service is absurd. Friday’s apology from the Sports Direct founder seemed to be more about communication – “ill-judged and poorly timed” emails to overworked government ministers – than his original ludicrous attempt to keep his shop
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Which companies are coming through during the coronavirus crisis?

  29-03-2020 09:00
  
  Some firms have stepped up to support employees, key workers and the NHS – but others have fallen well shortCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe dramatic effect of the coronavirus on the British economy has posed serious challenges for the country’s companies and their employees. Some have been applauded for their actions – making donations to health workers, for instance – while others have quickly fallen foul of politicians, the public a
  
  Read more

• The firms that have turned Covid-19 crisis into a chance to serve

  29-03-2020 08:00
  
  Each week my column is filled with reports of companies misbehaving. Now protest is turning to plauditsI’ve spent the last 22 years delving into the murkier corners of big business for my Your Problems column. It can be dispiriting work. The daily laments from customers have persuaded me that if corporate Britain has a conscience, it’s been smothered by terms and conditions that stack the odds in favour of traders. When companies have bestirred themselves to right a wrong, it’s
  
  Read more

• Supermarkets ready for a new week of rising to the virus’s challenge

  29-03-2020 01:05
  
  Supermarkets have won praise for their response to the crisis. The next issue may be keeping staff healthyThe wave of stockpiling triggered by the arrival of coronavirus on British shores means that many people will never take full supermarket shelves for granted again. And the week ahead will be another nail-biter for the country’s food retailers as they try to make good on their promise to “feed the nation”.On Saturday the government started delivering emergency food parcels
  
  Read more

Follow @retailuknws on Twitter!