JD Sports in talks with Authentic Brands over potential Topshop bid January 13, 2021 JD Sports is reportedly in talks with Authentic Brands, the US owner of Barneys department store, about a potential bid for Topshop following the collapse of Sir Philip Green’s retail empire Arcadia. The firms are in early-stage discussions about a partnership, which would see JD Sports running the operations of an Authentic Brands-owned Topshop, Sky [...]
How retail can survive in a post-Covid world January 13, 2021 This has been a momentous year for us all. The retail sector has been at the forefront of many of the changes and challenges that have arisen as a result of Covid. While physical stores have spent much of the year closed, the pandemic has driven innovation and fuelled a huge acceleration in what were [...]
Debenhams closes six stores including Oxford Street flagship January 13, 2021 Debenhams has permanently closed six department stores, including its flagship site in Oxford Street, due to the third national lockdown. The retailer had planned to reopen the stores to sell off remaining stock, but the introduction of new Covid-19 restrictions means that sites where it was unable to secure lease extensions will close. The closures [...]
Debate: Should Primark open an online store? January 13, 2021 Overnight opening hours, queue-management systems and lashings of promotions – Primark did everything it could to keep its customers happy amid a year of on/off lockdown restrictions. But with parent company Associated British Food’s trading update out this week, is it time for the High Street phenomenon to go digital, too? Kam Phullar, Lead Strategist [...]
Technology companies dominate list of best places to work in the UK January 13, 2021 Here's the list of best places to work in the UK, and these tech firms dominate
Morrisons to be first UK supermarket to pay staff at least £10 an hour January 13, 2021 Morrisons will pay its supermarket staff at least £10 an hour, becoming the first major UK supermarket to reach that milestone. The new deal will start in April and represents a significant pay increase for nearly 96,000 colleagues, the majority of which will see a nine per cent rise. Staff had pushed for an increase [...]
Ministers mull moving patients to hotels as hospitals become overwhelmed January 13, 2021 The NHS is considering plans to transfer patients to hotels as hospitals become overwhelmed with Covid-19, the health secretary said this morning. Matt Hancock announced the government would not rule out any options to relieve pressures on the NHS and refused to speculate about how long lockdown restrictions could last. The health secretary told BBC [...]
Pink goes offline as Covid takes the shirt off its back January 13, 2021 Pink Shirtmaker, the fashion retailer that became famous trading under the name Thomas Pink, has been shuttered by owner LVMH. Covid appears to have seen off the shirtmaker, which had been struggling for years and closed its Jermyn Street flagship in December. All traces of its social media channels, online store and links on the [...]
Asda to offer in-store Covid-19 vaccinations January 13, 2021 Asda will become the first UK supermarket to offer in-store Covid-19 vaccinations after striking a deal with public health officials. The vaccination centre at the grocer’s Birmingham store will operate 8am to 8pm, seven days a week, and will have the capacity to administer 250 jabs per day. The site is the first Asda pharmacy [...]
Pressure mounts on big four supermarkets as Lidl enjoys record Christmas sales January 13, 2021 Lidl has strengthened the pressure on its competitors by remaining the fastest growing retailer against the UK’s big four supermarkets of Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons. The German chain achieved a record Christmas in 2020 with overall sales increasing 17.9 per cent in the same four-week December period versus the previous year. With Christmas favourites [...]
