Mayor to be given power to overrule Westminster council, which blocked previous plan amid concerns over rerouting buses
Traffic will be banned from London’s Oxford Street under plans announced by the mayor, Sadiq Khan, using new powers from Labour to push through long-thwarted pedestrianisation of the capital’s famous shopping strip.
Khan said urgent action was needed so that the mile-long street could “once again become the leading retail destination in the world.”
Continue reading...Supermarket has come under pressure as rivals such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s have promised to match its prices
Aldi has said the price of a basket of its goods is lower than a year ago despite ongoing grocery inflation, as the discount chain tries to fight back against increasing pressure from rivals’ price-matching schemes.
The German-owned budget retailer said a slowdown in growth this year – sales are rising by just 0.5% compared with 16% last year – was partly caused by a decision to cut prices as big chains including Tesco and Sainsbury’s have won back customers by promising to match Aldi on key items.
Continue reading...British cosmetics tycoon Mike Jatania leads consortium to acquire UK’s 113 outlets and outposts in Australia and North America
The Body Shop has been rescued from administration by a consortium led by the British cosmetics tycoon Mike Jatania in a deal that will keep the ethical beauty brand’s remaining 113 UK stores trading.
Auréa, the growth capital firm founded by Jatania and former UBS, Credit Suisse and Merrill Lynch executive Paul Raphael, said it had bought all the Body Shop International’s assets, which include its UK stores and control of outposts in Australia and North America for an undisclosed sum.
Continue reading...Country music star’s ‘down to earth’ range at Asda goes head to head with Kylie for the ‘easy drinking’ top spot
Whether it’s 9 to 5, Jolene or Islands in the Stream, Dolly Parton fans are no stranger to belting out her hits with a glass of wine in hand, but now they can sip her vino, too, as the singer’s “down to earth” wine range goes on sale in the UK.
The brains behind Dolly Wines say they have bottled Parton’s “vivacious spirit and love for life” with the decision to branch out from selling albums to alcohol pitting the US country music star against the pop princess Kylie in the battle for the “easy drinking” top spot.
Continue reading...Online fashion retailer writes to some customers to say they face £3.95 fee unless they keep up to £40 of order
Asos is to start charging UK shoppers who frequently return large amounts of goods a fee of £3.95 to send items back unless they keep up to £40 worth of their order.
The online fashion retailer, which until now has made free returns of unused items within 14 days an important part of its offer in Britain, has written to some shoppers saying it has updated its “fair use” policy for orders made from 8 October.
Continue reading...Japanese group says Couche-Tard plan undervalues firm, but leaves door open to higher offer
The parent company of the global convenience store chain 7-Eleven has rejected a near $39bn (£29.6bn) takeover offer from a Canadian rival, arguing it “grossly undervalues” the company.
Last month, Tokyo-based Seven & i revealed that it had received a bid from Alimentation Couche-Tard setting the scene for what could be Japan’s biggest ever foreign takeover.
Continue reading...Shoppers can use technology to advise them on outfit choices based on their body shape and style preferences
Marks & Spencer is using artificial intelligence to advise shoppers on their outfit choices based on their body shape and style preferences, as part of efforts to increase online sales.
The 130-year-old retailer is using the technology to personalise consumers’ online experience, and suggest items to buy.
Continue reading...‘Ugly’ footwear trend boosts German company’s results but shares fall on bigger-than-expected drop in margins
Strong sales of clogs – which have been adopted by the American models Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner as part of this summer’s trend for “ugly” shoes – have helped Birkenstock to the highest quarterly sales in its history.
The German shoemaker, which listed on the US stock market in October last year valued at $7.5bn, said sales of “closed-toe silhouettes”, which include its clunky clogs, rose by more than twice the average for its products.
Continue reading...Prices down 0.3% in first week of August as food inflation eases and retailers attempt to shift unsold summer stock
UK shop prices have dropped for the first time since the cost of living crisis began nearly three years ago, as food inflation eased and retailers offered discounts on clothes and household goods to shift unsold summer stock.
New data showed prices were down 0.3% in the first week of August, compared with the same period last year. That compares to a 0.2% rise in July, and the three-month average of 0%.
Continue reading...James Bailey is confident the market has swung in its favour, with more customers and plans to open new stores
Waitrose is getting its mojo back, according to the boss of the upmarket supermarket chain, with shoppers treating themselves more often to pricier items such as green harissa paste and organic beef fillet steak as the cost of living crisis subsides for them.
James Bailey says Waitrose is selling nearly double the amount expected of its range of branded ingredients for recipes by the celebrity chef Yotam Ottolenghi, which launched in April, while sales of its Duchy Organic range are up more than 10%, as are those for its premium No 1 own label range, while sales of its budget Essentials range are falling back.
Continue reading...Company wants investors’ permission to buy billionaire’s shares in private deal at market price at the time
Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group is seeking approval for the billionaire entrepreneur to cash in £585m of shares which could be bought back by the company in a private deal.
Under the plan, the stock market-listed retail group said it wanted permission from shareholders to buy back the shares privately from Ashley – in one or several transactions – at the market price at the time.
Continue reading...Disclosure comes as campaigners call on UK to oppose company’s planned listing on London Stock Exchange
The online fashion seller Shein has admitted it found two cases of child labour and factories failing to pay the minimum wage in its supply chain last year, as it tries to gain backing for a potential £50bn UK stock market flotation.
The disclosure, in Shein’s 2023 sustainability report, comes after workers’ rights campaigners called for the government to oppose a possible listing of Shein on the London Stock Exchange over concerns about a lack of transparency about its supply chain and ethical questions. The British Fashion Council (BFC) has also said the listing, which could be announced as early as next month, would be a “significant concern” to the industry.
Continue reading...Proposal to Tokyo-based Seven & i by ACT could become biggest foreign takeover of a Japanese firm
The owner of the global convenience store chain 7-Eleven has received an offer from a Canadian rival to buy the company, in what could be Japan’s biggest ever foreign takeover.
The Tokyo-based Seven & i revealed on Monday that it had received a bid from the Canadian convenience store multinational Alimentation Couche-Tard (ACT) to buy its stake in the company.
Continue reading...ONS data shows strong performance in second quarter with service sector helping drive growth
Britain’s economy has extended its recovery from recession after recording growth of 0.6% in the three months to June, handing a boost to the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, in the run-up to the autumn budget.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show gross domestic product continued to grow in the second quarter, after a rise of 0.7% in the first three months of 2024. The reading matched the forecasts of City economists.
Continue reading...GMB accuses owner TDR Capital of mismanagement as sales at supermarket fall 6%
The GMB union has called on the owner of Asda to take “urgent action” to protect jobs amid signs the supermarket is “in a fight for survival”.
On Tuesday data revealed sales at Asda fell 6% in the three months to 4 August, despite continuing grocery price inflation, taking the retailer’s share of the UK take-home grocery market to 12.6% – the lowest level in at least 13 years.
Continue reading...After a difficult period on the high street, base rates are falling, temperatures are rising and things are looking up
It’s been a second cruel summer in a row for retailers and the hospitality business, but a more prolonged spell of warmth – and the first cut in interest rates in more than four years – may finally heat up the market, if it’s not too late.
From Argos paddling pools and outdoor furniture at garden centres to Heineken beer and Unilever’s ice-cream brands, sales have been dampened by poor weather, which has added to the pressure from high interest rates and energy bills. Sales volumes were down in June and July in the UK, according to the latest CBI distributive trades survey, with retailers expecting more falls in August.
Continue reading...Rescue deal with Tapi Carpets and Floors will still result in about 1,000 job losses
The Carpetright brand and 54 of the flooring retailer’s stores are being bought by its rival Tapi Carpets and Floors in a deal that will save 300 jobs.
The multimillion-pound deal, which is expected to be finalised on Monday, does not include Carpetright’s head office in Purfleet, Essex, or 220 further shops, and will result in about 1,000 job losses.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Several sent home for slow fruit picking face debts as watchdog investigates alleged illegal fees
Indonesian workers who paid thousands of pounds to travel to Britain and pick fruit at a farm supplying most big supermarkets have been sent home within weeks for not picking fast enough.
One of the workers said he had sold his family’s land, as well as his and his parents’ motorbikes, to cover the more than £2,000 cost of coming to Britain in May and was distressed to find himself unemployed with few possessions.
Continue reading...Revenues from technology arm, which sells robots to retailers, climbed by nearly 22% in six months to June
Shares in Ocado jumped by as much as 18% after the UK online grocer reported narrowing losses and raised its annual guidance for its technology arm, which sells warehouse robots to other retailers around the world.
Technology revenues climbed by nearly 22% year on year in the six months to 2 June, while retail revenues were also up by 11%. Ocado sells groceries in the UK through its joint venture with Marks & Spencer and was the fastest-growing grocer for the fifth month in a row based on recent sales figures, according to the data analytics company Kantar.
Continue reading...Customers left out of pocket who placed orders have now become, in effect, unsecured creditors
The administrators handling the collapse of Booktopia have announced that orders placed with Australia’s largest online bookseller will not be filled – and there may be no refunds either.
It means out of pocket customers who placed orders prior to the company entering voluntary administration have now become, in effect, unsecured creditors – which voids store credits and gift cards too.
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