Retail news

• Ray Kelvin returns to Ted Baker role via board nominee

  01-09-2020 20:46
  
  Non-executive director Colin La Fontaine Jackson will represent founder’s interests
  Ted Baker founder Ray Kelvin is to have a say in the running of the brand for the first time since departing over a year ago under a new “relationship agreement”.Kelvin, who owns nearly 12% of the fashion company, will have his interests represented on its board by a non-executive director – corporate financial adviser Colin La Fontaine Jackson – with immediate effect. Continue readi
  
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• Ray Kelvin returns to active Ted Baker role via board nominee

  01-09-2020 20:46
  
  Investment banker Colin La Fontaine Jackson will represent founders interests
  Ted Baker founder Ray Kelvin is to have a say in the running of the brand for the first time since departing over a year ago under a new “relationship agreement”.Kelvin, who owns nearly 12% of the fashion company, will have his interests represented on its board by a non-executive director – investment banker Colin La Fontaine Jackson – with immediate effect. Continue reading...
  
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• Bloom time: Morrisons doubles in-store flower stalls to meet demand

  01-09-2020 20:20
  
  UK supermarket chain aims to give jobs to florists who lost work due to coronavirus lockdownsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageMorrisons is more than doubling the number of flower stalls in its supermarkets and taking on 180 professional florists to create fresh bouquets to meet rising demand.The Bradford-based supermarket chain said it wanted to offer jobs to floral arrangement specialists who might have lost work during the coronavirus lockdowns, when some high
  
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• B&M to enter FTSE 100 as ITV changes channels

  01-09-2020 19:59
  Discount store chain has benefited during Covid-19 pandemic as its stores remained open
  
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• City lawyers are a resilient bunch, but not immune

  01-09-2020 18:51
  Law firms making cuts should not come as a surprise; Dunelm is on its way to suburban ubiquity
  
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• Nowhere to spend a penny on high street | Brief letters

  01-09-2020 18:22
  
  Public loos | Shielding too late | Covid test record | Career progression | JerusalemYou report that high-street footfall is still down on pre-Covid levels (How Britain’s high streets are recovering after lockdown – visual analysis, 31 August). Surely one of the reasons must be the disappearance of public WCs? These have vanished at a speedy rate in recent years, and Covid has led to even more being closed, or operating a “wait outside until someone else emerges” system.
  
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• Is sustainability killing off fast fashion for good?

  01-09-2020 17:57 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Fast fashion was booming in the early 2000s when consumers connected with Primark’s luminous mesh clothing and chunky plastic hoop earrings, and as the likes of Topshop, H&M and Zara embarked on ambitious expansion schemes around the world.
  However, in more recent years ethics and corporate transparency in fast fashion has been the topic of numerous debates – especially since the Covid-19 pandemic swept the world in March this year.
  The sector has been seeing an increase in call
  
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• The UK's role in the clothing industry has to change, or abuses will continue | Nikolaus Hammer

  01-09-2020 17:54
  
  Leicester’s textile factories are in the spotlight, but the whole UK-based supply chain needs transparency and oversightDespite decades of undercover investigations into and analysis of the UK’s textile industry, and parliamentary reports on human rights abuses and sustainability, the latest evidence of factories in Leicester that may have been paying workers well below the minimum wage suggests that we are far from solving these injustices.Today’s global networks for sourcing
  
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• John Lewis unveils vegan & recyclable mattress range

  01-09-2020 16:53 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // John Lewis rolls out new vegan-friendly and full recyclable mattress range
  // The mattresses are made of recycled plastic material, free of chemicals and in a carbon-neutral factoryJohn Lewis has launched its vegan-friendly and fully recyclable mattress range across its stores and online as it capitalises on growing customer demand for sustainable products.
  The department store’s EcoMattress is filled with layers of EcoFlex fibres – a soft polyester filling made from 100 per cent
  
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• Morrisons doubles number of in-store professional florists

  01-09-2020 16:42 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Morrisons is doubling the number of fully-qualified, expert florists in its stores to 300 this autumn
  // Big 4 giant will install a further 60 florist stations in-stores across the UK – taking the total number to over 100
  // The move will create 180 jobs for qualified professional florists, who may be out of work due to the pandemicMorrisons has announced plans to double the number of fully-qualified, expert florists in its stores to 300 this autumn.
  The supermarket is expanding its in-
  
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• Debenhams sets deadline for suitors to place their takeover bids

  01-09-2020 15:48 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Potential buyers for Debenhams told to submit bids by 5pm today
  // Debenhams first went up for sale in July
  // It had entered administration in AprilDebenhams has reportedly told potential suitors interested in buying the 242-year-old business to place their bids by the end of today.
  According to Sky News, advisers from Lazard – who are working with the department store chain on the sale of the business – has asked interested buyers to submit offers by 5pm today.
  Debenhams’
  
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• Ray Kelvin and fashion retailer Ted Baker restore relationship

  01-09-2020 15:29
  Founder will appoint board member and contribute ‘brand experience’
  
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• First day of Ocado M&S deliveries marred by cancellations

  01-09-2020 15:28
  
  Ocado blames a ‘surge in demand’ for delivery difficulties with Marks & Spencer ordersOcado is facing criticism from delivery customers over last-minute order cancellations as the online grocer admitted it was struggling to cope on the first day of its new service with Marks & Spencer.The company blamed a “surge in demand” for what it said was a “small number of cancellations” as it kicked off the partnership with M&S, which ends nearly 20 years of
  
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• Final week of Eat Out to Help Out gives retail footfall 6% boost

  01-09-2020 14:37 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Weekly footfall was up 6% last week, but still down 26.1% compared to last year
  // Retailers benefited from a boost through the last full week of Eat Out to Help OutFootfall increased by six per cent last week compared to the previous seven days, as retailers benefited from the last full week of the “Eat Out to Help Out” scheme.
  On a year-on-year basis though, footfall declined by 26.1 per cent to mark a noticeable improvement on the year-on-year drop of 30.7 per cent in the week
  
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• PayPal launches ‘buy now, pay later’ scheme in major challenge to Klarna

  01-09-2020 14:26 via chargedretail.co.uk
  
  PayPal has launched its own “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) scheme in a major challenge to market leaders like Klarna and Afterpay.
  ‘Pay in 4’ will be freely available to all merchants who accept PayPal as a payments option, which covers a whopping 79 per cent of the top 100 online merchants.
  It will allow shoppers to pay for purchases of between $30 and $600 by putting down just 25 per cent of the purchase value, then pay the rest in interest-free instalments across six week
  
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• Plastic bag levy to be doubled & extended to all retailers

  01-09-2020 14:05 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // From April 2021, plastic bag levy will be doubled and extended to all retailers
  // Small retailers – those employing 250 people or fewer – no longer exempt
  // The minimum charge for single use carrier bags will increase to 10pThe fee for plastic carrier bags is set to double from April next year, with the charge being extended to all shops in England, the government has announced.
  Small retailers – defined as those employing 250 people or fewer – will no longer be exem
  
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• Dunelm benefits from home spending boom

  01-09-2020 13:15
  UK retailer reports sales surge of almost 60% in July after stores reopened
  
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• Amazon gets go-ahead to test autonomous drone deliveries which can reach customers in just 30 minutes

  01-09-2020 11:26 via chargedretail.co.uk
  
  Amazon has been granted federal approval to begin testing commercial drone flights capable of delivering packages in under 30 minutes.
  Amazon Prime Air, the retailers drone delivery arm, has been given the green light by the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) to begin testing autonomous drone deliveries, according to Bloomberg.
  It is now one of just three companies to receive such approval from the FAA, which technically designates Amazon as an “air carrier”.
  UPS became the fir
  
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• Trade bodies urge govt to cover 50% of rents to keep businesses afloat

  01-09-2020 10:50 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Retail and landlord trade bodies call on government to consider suspending rent payments during ongoing pandemic
  // BRC, British Property Federation and Revo have urged the government to extend the moratorium on evictionsThe UK’s largest retail trade bodies have reportedly called on the government to launch a Property Bounceback Grant covering up to 50 per cent of commercial rents to keep stores afloat amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
  The BRC, British Property Federation (BPF) and Revo have
  
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• Mike Ashley warns of further job cuts if PM delays business rates review

  01-09-2020 10:08 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Mike Ashley warned Boris Johnson of “disastrous consequences” for jobs if business rates are not reformed
  // Ashley cited the thousands of job cuts announced by retailers such as John Lewis and Marks & Spencer in a letter to the PMFrasers Group boss Mike Ashley has reportedly warned prime minister Boris Johnson of “disastrous consequences” for jobs if business rates are not reformed.
  The retail tycoon has said the government must take action to act against the &ldq
  
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• Dunelm sales rise 59% post-lockdown thanks to “pent up demand”

  01-09-2020 09:30 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Dunelm posts sales rise thanks to “pent up demand”
  // The retailer benefited from the timing of its summer sale after “strong” trading in AugustDunelm has reported a sales rise as post-lockdown sales began to rise thanks to “pent up demand”, putting its financial performance for the year ahead of expectations.
  The homewares retailer said that sales rose by 59 per cent in July after customers flocked to stores following the reopening of its store estate.
  It
  
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• Ann Summers mulls CVA as landlords “bury heads in the sand”

  01-09-2020 08:54 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Ann Summers poised to launch CVA
  // CEO Jacqueline Gold expects property costs to increaseAnn Summers is reportedly expected to launch a CVA after facing increased losses in its recent financial report.
  The lingerie and sex toy retailer’s chief executive Jacqueline Gold said the company might opt for a CVA as some landlords refused to work in partnership, despite the owning family injecting cash to keep the business afloat, Retail Week reported.
  Losses increased £3 million to &pou
  
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• M&S goes online with Ocado as Percy Pig vans hit UK roads

  01-09-2020 08:42 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Marks and Spencer and Ocado partnership begins today as deliveries are sent out
  // The first deliveries of groceries is expected to reach customers on Tuesday
  // M&S has made over 6800 products exclusively available through OcadoThe Ocado and Marks and Spencer partnership has begun as the first deliveries of groceries is expected to reach customers on Tuesday.
  M&S’s venture into the online food shopping sector amid the Covid-19 crisis is forecast to benefit from the increased am
  
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• Walmart to offer fuel discounts with rival to Amazon Prime

  01-09-2020 06:02
  US retailer revamps membership service as it tries to retain shoppers won over during pandemic
  
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• The shopping centre that encapsulates the UK’s retail crisis

  01-09-2020 05:00
  Intu’s Watford mall has lost its anchor tenants and suffered as pandemic pushes sales online
  
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• The commuter town shopping centre that encapsulates UK retail crisis

  01-09-2020 05:00
  Intu’s Watford mall has lost its anchor tenants and suffered as pandemic pushes sales online
  
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• The commuter town centre that encapsulates the UK’s retail crisis

  01-09-2020 05:00
  Intu’s Watford mall has lost its anchor tenants and suffered as pandemic pushes sales online
  
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• Percy Pig hits the roads as M&S deliveries by Ocado begin

  01-09-2020 01:01
  
  Marks & Spencer joins booming online food shopping sector with former Waitrose partnerThe first deliveries of Marks & Spencer’s groceries will reach customers on Tuesday as its online shopping venture with Ocado begins.The retailer is belatedly entering the online food shopping sector, which has enjoyed explosive growth during the coronavirus pandemic, by making more than 6,800 products exclusively available through Ocado. Related: Waitrose enlists Deliveroo to help take on M&S
  
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• TAG Heuer opens new Norwich boutique in partnership with Beaverbrooks

  01-09-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  TAG Heuer has opened a new boutique in partnership with family owned jewellery retailer Beaverbrooks at the Intu Chapelfield shopping centre in Norwich. Spanning 22.12 square metres, the store will sell a selection of... View Article
  
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• Retail footfall up 6% last week

  01-09-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  New data has shown that UK retail footfall increased by 6% in the week to Saturday compared to the previous seven days as retailers benefited from... View Article
  
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• [Report] The European eCommerce Landscape in 2020 | Riskified

  01-09-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  This report analyzes current and future forces shaping the European eCommerce landscape. It explores how online merchants must meet customer expectations, and provide a consistent experience... View Article
  
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• Q&A: Graham Wilson, Head of Business Development at Sofology

  01-09-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Graham Wilson – expert panelist at our upcoming Digital Transformation event – has been Head of Business Development at Sofology since December 2019 with responsibility for... View Article
  
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• Ocado begins deliveries of M&S food

  01-09-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Ocado has begun making its first deliveries of M&S food to customers today as part of its new joint venture with the retailer. The two retailers... View Article
  
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• Head not heart: Why retailers need data to make sense of the post-COVID-19 consumer

  01-09-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Customer-focused strategies and digital-centric technical capabilities are essential, says David Rosen, Technology and Customer Leader at TIBCO Software. Global shortages of dry yeast during the COVID-19... View Article
  
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• Gear4music reports strong trading in July and August

  01-09-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Online musical instruments retailer Gear4music has said sales remained strong throughout July and August. The company also generated improved margins and spent less on marketing compared to the same... View Article
  
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• Dunelm benefits from pent-up demand post lockdown

  01-09-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Homewares retailer Dunelm has said it has experienced strong trading during the last two months as it benefited from pent-up consumer demand post-lockdown. In a trading... View Article
  
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