Economy

Retail footfall growth at 11-year high

UK retail footfall growth has increased at the fastest rate for 11 years, according to figures from Ipsos Retail Performance. The global retail and footfall consultant’s latest Retail Traffic Index, which is derived from the number of individual shoppers entering over 4,000 non-food retail stores across the UK, found that…

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UK gold demand grows 6% while Asia’s appetite declines

Global gold demand fell by 12% in the second quarter of 2015 compared with the same period last year, according to the World Gold Council’s (WGC) Gold Demand Trends Report. But demand in Europe and the US grew, driven by a mixture of increasingly confident jewellery buyers and strong demand…

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Jewellery and watches help drive UK retail sales in July

Retail sales in the UK were up 1.2% on a like-for-like basis from July 2014, when they had decreased 0.3% on the preceding year.  This is according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG Retail Sales Monitor which found that on a total basis sales were up 2.2%, against…

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Non-food prices fall for 28th consecutive month

Non-food shop price deflation accelerated to 2.3% in July, which was down from the 1.9% in June and represented the 28th consecutive fall for non-food prices.   That is according to British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Nielsen’s latest Shop Price Index, which reported deflation of 1.4% in July, which was…

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Petra Diamonds production up but revenue falls 10%

Independent mining firm Petra Diamonds has reported a fall in revenue despite an increase in production in its full year financial results, ending June 30.  Revenue for the company was down 10% to $425m (£273.9m), which it put down to lower average diamond prices than in the same time last…

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De Beers sales fall 21% in first half of 2015

Diamond company De Beers has reported a total sales decrease of 21% to $3bn (£1.94bn) in the first six months of the year to June 30, 2015.   According to the first half results published by mining group Anglo American, which owns 85% of De Beers, underlying earnings before interest,…

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June hallmarking jumps 12.3%

The total number of hallmarked items surged 12.3% in June, an increase of 94,023 articles when compared with the same month in 2014.  This is according to data released today by the four UK assay offices – and compiled by the Birmingham Assay Office – which found the total number…

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UK inflation rate falls back to 0%

The UK inflation rate fell back to 0% in June after rising to 0.1% in May, according to official figures released today.  A fall in clothing and food prices were the main contributors to the change in the rate along with smaller rises in air fares than a year ago,…

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UK retail sales record strongest growth in 18 months

UK retail sales recorded their strongest growth in 18 months as sales increased 1.8% on a like-for-like basis from June 2014, when they had decreased 0.8% on the preceding year.  This is according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG Retail Sales Monitor which found that, on a total…

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Non-food shop price deflation slows in June

The deflation of non-food shop prices slowed to 1.9% in June compared with a drop of 2.5% in April and May.  This is according to the BRC-Nielsen Shop Price Index which found overall shop prices reported deflation of 1.3% in June, up from the 1.9% recorded in May. The fall…

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