Retail news

• Supermarkets waive £1.8bn business rates relief; stocks and pound rally – as it happened

  03-12-2020 20:23
  
  Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as mid-cap stocks hit their highest level in over nine monthsLatest: UK stock market ralliesB&M waives £80m in business rates reliefPound hits highest level against dollar since December 2019US jobless claims fell last week, but still painfully highAsda to hand back £340m; Aldi to repay £100mIntroduction: Sainsbury’s waives £440m business rates relief 7.22pm GMT Right, time to wrap up. Here’s toda
  
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• Supermarket top brass are right: business rates need urgent reform

  03-12-2020 20:20
  
  Successive governments have offered tweaks, none cut to the heart of problem: growth of online retail Amazing, isn’t it? All those supermarkets, it turns out, had been pondering a U-turn on business rates relief for simply ages. Morrisons says it had been on the case “for some time”. The board of Sainsbury’s had deliberated “since the announcement of a second national lockdown in England”, so more than a month ago. If only they’d given us a clue, instead
  
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• £1.8bn-plus in Covid rates relief to be handed back as B&M joins list

  03-12-2020 19:30
  
  Waitrose owner and M&S refuse to return money despite also enjoying strong food salesCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageSainsbury’s, Asda, B&M and Aldi have agreed to join rivals Tesco and Morrisons in repaying emergency taxpayer support, taking the total handed back to the Treasury by major high street names from a business rates holiday to more than £1.8bn.The John Lewis Partnership, which owns Waitrose, and Marks & Spencer were adamant on
  
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• FTSE 250 highest since February, as pound hits 2020 high against US dollar – business live

  03-12-2020 19:03
  
  Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as mid-cap stocks hit their highest level in over nine monthsLatest: UK stock market ralliesB&M waives £80m in business rates reliefPound hits highest level against dollar since December 2019US jobless claims fell last week, but still painfully highAsda to hand back £340m; Aldi to repay £100mIntroduction: Sainsbury’s waives £440m business rates relief 5.53pm GMT Shares in smaller UK companies have ralli
  
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• Co-op Group urged to hand back £70m of business rates relief

  03-12-2020 17:55 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Co-op Group National Members Council urges company to hand back £70m of business rates relief
  // The Council urged that the group’s board make an immediate pledge to waive the government windfall
  // The Co-op employs 63,500 people, more than 55,000 of whom work in its retail businessThe Co-op’s parent company Co-operative Group is reportedly facing disquiet from members after refusing to follow in the footsteps of rivals in returning millions worth of business rates rel
  
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• Supermarkets waive business rates relief; pound hits 2020 high against US dollar – business live

  03-12-2020 17:26
  
  Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as UK supermarkets hand back £1.7bn of tax relief after criticismLatest: Pound hits highest level against dollar since December 2019Latest: US jobless claims fell last week, but still painfully highAsda to hand back £340m; Aldi to repay £100mIntroduction: Sainsbury’s waives £440m business rates reliefFollows Tesco and Morrisons yesterdayBut Co-op and John Lewis have no plans.... 4.26pm GMT Sterling’s
  
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• Sainsbury's, Asda and Aldi waive business rates relief; US jobless claims fall – business live

  03-12-2020 15:07
  
  Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as UK supermarkets hand back £1.7bn of tax relief after criticismLatest: US jobless claims fell last week, but still painfully highAsda to hand back £340mAldi to repay £100mIntroduction: Sainsbury’s waives £440m business rates reliefFollows Tesco and Morrisons yesterdayBut Co-op and John Lewis have no plans.... 1.59pm GMT The drop in US unemployment claims may be due to the Thanksgiving holiday.Last week&rs
  
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• Sainsbury's, Asda and Aldi vow to repay nearly £900m in Covid rates relief

  03-12-2020 14:19
  
  UK supermarkets join Tesco and Morrisons in returning UK government fundsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageSainsbury’s, Asda and Aldi have fallen into line behind rivals Tesco and Morrisons by promising to repay nearly £900m of emergency taxpayer support.The major supermarkets have faced fierce criticism for taking advantage of the government’s business rates holiday, which has saved them close to £2bn combined at a time when food sales hav
  
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• Sainsbury's, Asda and Aldi waive business rates relief as supermarkets hand back £1.7bn – business live

  03-12-2020 14:10
  
  Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsLatest: Asda to hand back £340mAldi to repay £100mIntroduction: Sainsbury’s waives £440m business rates reliefFollows Tesco and Morrisons yesterdayBut Co-op and John Lewis have no plans.... 1.05pm GMT Asda has joined the rush of supermarkets handing back their business rates relief.Throughout the pandemic we have always sought to do the right thing – fulfilling our role in feeding the nation, protecting our c
  
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• Four in 10 UK food firms to cut supplies to Northern Ireland – poll

  03-12-2020 13:54
  
  Exclusive: Brexit survey by Food and Drink Federation confirms fears of retailers and DUP
  Four in 10 food and drink businesses have said they are going to stop or reduce supplies going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland because of Brexit, a poll of some of the UK’s biggest producers has found.The alarming survey result will confirm the worst fears of MPs, particularly those in the Democratic Unionist party (DUP), as well as of retailers and the hospitality sector in Northern Ireland. R
  
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• Lush hands anti-trans group £3000 grant

  03-12-2020 13:46 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Lush has handed Woman’s Place UK a £3000 grant
  // The money is reported to have come from Lush’s “charity pot”
  // WPUK is recognised for its campaigning efforts on anti-trans measuresLush has reportedly admitted it has given a £3000 grant to anti-trans pressure group Woman’s Place UK (WPUK).
  WPUK said in a financial statement that it received the grant from the cosmetics retailer for “events organisation”.
  The money is reported to have com
  
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• Cyber Monday was the largest digital shopping day on record in the US seeing sales top $10.8 billion for the first time.

  03-12-2020 13:43 via chargedretail.co.uk
  
  Cyber Monday was the largest digital shopping day on record in the US seeing sales top $10.8 billion for the first time.
  According to new data from Adobe, sales grew 15.1 per cent compared to last year, with a large portion of purchases occurring in the last few hours of the day.
  Despite breaking records, the figures came slightly below Adobe’s own predictions, seeing online sales rise by 30 per cent year-on-year instead of the 33 per cent it had predicted.
  This is understood to be due to
  
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• Lush refuses to apologise after handing anti-trans group £3000

  03-12-2020 13:28 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Lush has handed Woman’s Place UK a £3000 grant
  // The money is reported to have come from Lush’s “charity pot”
  // WPUK is recognised for its campaigning efforts on anti-trans measuresLush has reportedly admitted it has given a £3000 grant to anti-trans pressure group Woman’s Place UK (WPUK).
  WPUK said in a financial statement that it received the grant from the cosmetics retailer for “events organisation”.
  The money is reported to have com
  
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• Shoppers go the extra mile for Primark's open-all-hours trading marathon

  03-12-2020 13:13
  
  Customers packed the Charlton store throughout the night to track down ‘cheap and cheerful’ Christmas presentsLockdown lifts across England
  At around midnight on Wednesday, the car park at Primark in Brocklebank Retail Park, south-east London, was packed. Leaving the store, most of the masked-up patrons carried several bags full of shopping.In an attempt to recoup some of the lost profits during England’s second national lockdown, and to allow shoppers extra time for Christmas
  
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• Duro Olowu’s gifts for £120 or less

  03-12-2020 13:00
  The Lagos-born, London-based designer recommends books and handmade jewellery alongside charitable donations
  
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• Duro Olowu’s creative and charitable gifts

  03-12-2020 13:00
  The Lagos-born, London-based designer recommends books and handmade jewellery alongside philanthropic donations
  
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• Sainsbury's and Aldi waive business rates relief as major supermarkets hand back £1.4bn – business live

  03-12-2020 12:40
  
  Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsLatest: Aldi to repay £100mIntroduction: Sainsbury’s to hand back £440m business rates reliefFollows Tesco and Morrisons yesterday 11.40am GMT Optimism across UK companies has risen, despite the latest Covid-19 restrictions pushing activity down last month.The latest PMI survey from data firm Markit shows the UK service sector contracted during November’s English lockdown and restrictions in other areas (to no-one&
  
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• PS5 and Xbox Series shortages lead to 10% drop in video game sales

  03-12-2020 12:07 via chargedretail.co.uk
  
  PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series shortages have sent video game sales plummeting over Black Friday and Cyber Monday as shoppers hold off on making purchases for last-gen consoles.
  Digital game sales fell 10 per cent year-on-year, including a 13 per cent drop in console games, over what is traditionally one of the most lucrative sales weekends for the sector, according to Superdata.
  While PC game sales helped offset this decline, the drop was largely due to the significant number of shoppers still u
  
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• M&S refuses to return £83.7m business rates relief

  03-12-2020 10:56 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // M&S will not return £83.7m business rates relief it received from government
  // The retailer said government’s “much-needed support” has provided a backbone to businessesMarks & Spencer has said it will not follow some of the biggest retailers’ footsteps in returning business rates relief it received to help support it through the Covid-19 pandemic.
  The retailer claimed business rates relief of £83.7 million from the government in its first hal
  
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• Arcadia gift cards now only cover half the price of purchases

  03-12-2020 10:28 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Arcadia tells shoppers they will not be able to use vouchers to cover their entire spending value
  // Shoppers with a £20 voucher would have to spend £40 to use it up
  // The retail group, which owns Topshop, fell into administration putting 13,000 jobs at risk
  // Administrators are not obliged to honour gift cards and vouchersArcadia Group has reportedly said customers holding gift cards and vouchers for its brands will only be able to use them to cover half the price of their
  
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• Debenhams claims over £40m furlough money following administration

  03-12-2020 10:01 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Debenhams claimed £40.5m from the furlough scheme following administration
  // The department store chain is now being liquidated after administrator FRP Advisory failed to find a buyer
  // The company owes up to £229m to trade creditorsDebenhams has reportedly claimed £40.5 million from the furlough scheme after collapsing into administration.
  The department store chain – which is now being liquidated after administrator FRP Advisory failed to find a buyer – legal
  
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• Retail hiring drops 20%

  03-12-2020 09:45 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Retail sector second-worst affected sector for hiring
  // “In-store staff are paying the highest price” in switch to online shopping, says LinkedInHiring across the retail sector fell 20 per cent in October, as the sector continues to struggle under the pressure of coronavirus.
  According to new research conducted by LinkedIn, retail hiring rates fell 20 per cent year-on-year in October, as employers cut back on staffing in the wake of uncertainty caused by coronavirus.
  Retail was t
  
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• Sainsbury's hands back £440m in Covid business rates relief

  03-12-2020 09:28
  
  UK supermarket joins Tesco and Morrisons in returning government state fundsSainsbury’s has become the third major supermarket chain in the UK to announce that it will repay most of the business rates relief it accepted from the government during the Covid-19 pandemic.The company said it would repay £440m of the £490m it was eligible for after the chancellor announced in March a 12-month business rates holiday. While other retailers and hospitality firms have struggled with loc
  
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• Sainsbury's and Aldi vow to repay nearly £550m in Covid rates relief

  03-12-2020 09:28
  
  UK supermarkets joins Tesco and Morrisons in returning UK government fundsSainsbury’s and Aldi have fallen into line behind rivals Tesco and Morrisons by promising to repay more than £500m of emergency taxpayer support.The major supermarkets have faced fierce criticism for taking advantage of the government’s business rates holiday which has saved them close to £2bn combined at a time when food sales have been booming and other parts of the retail sector are in crisis. Re
  
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• Sainsbury's and Aldi vow to hand back nearly £550m in Covid rates relief

  03-12-2020 09:28
  
  UK supermarkets joins Tesco and Morrisons in returning UK government fundsSainsbury’s and Aldi have fallen into line behind rivals Tesco and Morrisons by promising to repay more than £500m of emergency taxpayer support.The major supermarkets have faced fierce criticism for taking advantage of the government’s business rates holiday which has saved them close to £2bn combined at a time when food sales have been booming and other parts of the retail sector are in crisis. Re
  
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• Sainsbury's and Aldi vow to hand back nearly £550m in Covid business rates relief

  03-12-2020 09:28
  
  UK supermarkets joins Tesco and Morrisons in returning UK government fundsSainsbury’s and Aldi have fallen into line behind rivals Tesco and Morrisons by promising to repay more than £500m of emergency taxpayer support.The major supermarkets have faced fierce criticism for taking advantage of the government’s business rates holiday which has saved them close to £2bn combined at a time when food sales have been booming and other parts of the retail sector are in crisis. Re
  
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• Cath Kidston makes a return to the high street with Piccadilly flagship

  03-12-2020 09:27 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Cath Kidston re-opens Piccadilly flagship
  // Store will now operate an “experiential” service for shoppers, showcasing Cath Kidston products
  // Re-launch comes after retro-inspired brand announced digital focus following administrationCath Kidston returned to the high street on Wednesday with the re-opening of its flagship store in London’s Piccadilly.
  The store is the only physical branch left trading for the retro-inspired retailer, who fell into administration earlie
  
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• Sainsbury’s to forgo £410m in business rates relief

  03-12-2020 08:58
  The supermarket group follows rivals Tesco and Morrisons in repaying the government
  
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• Sainsbury’s follows Tesco in repaying business rates relief

  03-12-2020 08:58
  Supermarket group to forgo government support to tune of £440m
  
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• Sainsbury’s, Aldi and Asda follow Tesco in repaying business rates relief

  03-12-2020 08:58
  UK supermarkets to return £1.7bn they accepted from government in pandemic support
  
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• Sainsbury’s and Morrisons commit to repaying business rates relief

  03-12-2020 08:51 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Morrisons announces on Wednesday evening it will repay £274m business rates relief
  // Sainsbury’s joins Big Four rivals on Thursday morning announcing it would forgo £450m relief
  // Announcements likely to put pressure on other retailers who were able to continue trading through lockdown to return reliefSainsbury’s and Morrisons will join Tesco in repaying the business rates relief they received this year as a result of coronavirus.
  Yesterday morning Tesco announced it
  
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• Retail footfall surges 85% for England as shoppers return

  03-12-2020 08:11 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Shoppers return to high streets and shopping centres after a month of lockdown in England
  // Consumer desire to ‘stay local’ attributed to 96.8% w-o-w rise in footfall in market towns
  // Footfall in London’s West End rose 70.5% w-o-w- by 12pm yesterdayFootfall rose 85.2 per cent week-on-week in England by 12pm yesterday as shoppers across the country returned to high streets, shopping centres and retail parks.
  The latest figures from Springboard saw footfall across all UK re
  
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• The rock star of retail: how Topshop changed the face of fashion

  03-12-2020 07:00
  
  With its celebrity collaborations and turbo-charged launches, Philip Green’s Topshop brought fun and drama to the once uninspiring business of clothes-shopping. We chart the rise and fall of the pandemic’s most glamorous corporate victim“What’s this I’m reading in the paper? It’s a load of absolute shit, that’s what it is. What’s the matter with you? Are you stupid or what? I’ve never read so much rubbish in my life.”It was February 201
  
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• Waitrose and Deliveroo launch ‘Donate a Plate’ campaign

  03-12-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Waitrose has teamed up with Deliveroo to launch a new Christmas campaign called ‘Donate a Plate’ to support the work of hunger and food waste charity... View Article
  
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• The model for IT Managed Services that’s winning new business

  03-12-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  UK and India-based Technology Service Provider, PMC, has recently announced two new fashion retailer customer wins. On the back of these announcements, Phil Bailey, PMC Managed... View Article
  
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• Superdrug to crack down on in-store aggression and violence at Christmas

  03-12-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Superdrug is encouraging people to ‘shop kind’ this festive season when they visit stores to buy Christmas gifts. The move is part of the retailer’s ‘Be... View Article
  
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• Sainsbury’s to forgo business rates relief

  03-12-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Sainsbury’s has said it will forgo the business rates relief that the UK government and the devolved administrations have granted to its stores since March. The... View Article
  
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• René Caovilla opens pop-up boutique in Shanghai

  03-12-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Luxury Italian footwear brand René Caovilla is continuing its expansion into China with the opening of a new pop-up boutique in Shanghai’s Plaza 66. The move... View Article
  
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• Merrell launches first UK shop-in-shop in Blacks

  03-12-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Outdoor footwear brand Merrell has teamed up with Blacks to launch its first shop-in shop in the UK. Situated in Blacks’ Leicester store, the shop will... View Article
  
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• M&S launches contact-free bra fitting service

  03-12-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Marks & Spencer has launched a contact-free bra fitting service at 64 of its biggest stores in England and Wales. The service will be run by... View Article
  
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• Cath Kidston re-opens Piccadilly flagship as experiential store

  03-12-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Cath Kidston has re-opened its global flagship on London’s Piccadilly as experiential store following a transformation. Spanning 7,040 square feet, the ‘Home of Cath Kidston‘ is... View Article
  
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• [ WEBINAR ] – 5 marketing trends for 2021

  03-12-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  For many of us, 2020 has been a challenging year. But with the right approach, we can emerge as better marketers ready to drive our best results... View Article
  
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