Signet to close 80 UK stores permanently

Signet Jewelers has announced that it will not reopen 80 of its UK stores, in an effort to emerge “stronger and more efficient” following the Covid-19 crisis.  As part of its decision to accelerate its ‘Path to Brilliance’ programme Signet, which has 3,200 stores worldwide, has revealed initially 150 of…

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British Craft Trade Fair to launch online show

The British Craft Trade Fair (BCTF) has announced that it will run a new online, interactive exhibition for designer-makers who were already signed up for its 2020 event. The online show will be open to registered and approved buyers from 14 June through the BCTF website, with this year’s award-winners…

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Consumer spending drops 26.7% year-on-year in May

Consumer spending contracted 26.7% year-on-year in May. This is according to new data from Barclaycard, which revealed that spending on essential items grew slightly by 0.9%. This was bolstered by a 24.5% rise in supermarket spend – which increased to 27% in the week preceding the VE Day weekend as…

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Bira opposed to proposed relaxation of Sunday trading laws

The British Independent Retailers Association (Bira) has expressed concern for proposed relaxation of Sunday trading laws. Under plans being suggested by the government, England could suspend Sunday trading laws for a year in a bid to boost the economy. However, Bira, who has added its support to the ‘Keep Sunday…

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Reed Exhibitions cancels IJL 2020 

The organiser for International Jewellery London (IJL), Reed Exhibitions, has announced that the September event has been cancelled.   The trade show was initially scheduled to take place at Alexandra Palace, London, between 13 September and 15 September 2020, but will no longer go ahead due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.…

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BlueRock Diamonds completes $700k diamond sale

BlueRock Diamonds, a diamond producer that owns and operates the Kareevlei diamond mine in South Africa, has announced the private sale of 2,400 carats. The carats were sold at an average price of $290 (£229) per carat for a total of $700,000 (£552,000). According to the producer, the sale did…

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Say it with Diamonds sales surge amid lockdown

High-street jeweller Say it with Diamonds has reported a 267% sales uplift on engagement rings amid the nationwide lockdown. The surge in sales during March and April marked a notable difference from the amount of engagement rings sold in the same period the year prior. Over the same two-month period,…

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Sunday trading deregulation would be a ‘slap in the face’ for key workers, says Usdaw

Shopworkers union Usdaw has titled government plans for Sunday trading deregulation as a “slap in the face” for key workers and calls out the government failing to provide a “proper strategy “to help the retail industry. This move to deregulate Sunday trading hours would come across as an opportunistic use…

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Footfall begins ‘journey to recovery’ in May

Consumer footfall may have begun its “long journey to recovery” in the month of May, according to the latest figures from Springboard.  Whilst footfall dropped by 73.3% in May, this still marked a “marginal improvement” from the month prior, when footfall saw a decline of 80.1% in light of the…

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Bira welcomes business rates revaluation postponement in Wales

The British Retailers Association (Bira) has welcomed the decision by the Welsh government to delay the revaluation of business rates.  The announcement follows a similar ruling made in England on 6 May, which resulted in the government scrapping a bill to reevaluate business rates in 2021. The decision to postpone…

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