Economy

High Street footfall suffers against out-of-town shopping

Footfall on Britain’s high streets has declined yet further thanks to the rising popularity of out-of-town shopping complexes, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).  The BRC/Springboard Footfall and Vacancies Monitor found that town centre shopping malls reported the largest decline in footfall, falling 2.8% compared with the same time…

Read More »

Hallmarking figures drop in January

After a strong year of growth for hallmarking figures in 2014 the total number of articles hallmarked was down 7.6% in January 2015 compared to the same time last year.  According to data from the four UK assay offices and compiled by the Birmingham Assay Office, there was a total…

Read More »

Fancy colour diamonds not affected by diamond price falls

Fancy colour diamonds are continuing to show consistent price levels, despite a backdrop of commodity value declines in Q4 2014.  This is according to the first Fancy Color Diamond Index developed by the Fancy Color Research Foundation (The FCRF), which was launched in November last year. The index revealed that…

Read More »

January like-for-likes enjoy modest increase after ‘subdued’ December

January retail sales grew marginally despite a ‘subdued’ December, according to latest figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC).  The BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor found that total sales were up 1.6% compared with the same period last year, and above the 12 month average of 1.4%. However this represented a…

Read More »

LDC: Empty shops show North-South divide

The North-South divide is clearer than ever with the South having one in ten shops lying empty while the North has one in five, according to the Local Data Company (LDC).  LDC, which analyses over 3,000 town centres, shopping centres and retail parks, said that despite the deepening regional divide,…

Read More »

Polished diamond prices continue decline in January

Demand for polished diamonds improved in January but prices continued to drop, according to the RapNet Diamond Index (RAPI).  The price of 1-carat laboratory graded diamonds fell 0.4% in January, the price of 0.30-carat diamonds dropped by 0.9%, price for 0.50-carat diamonds declined 1%, while price for 3-carat diamonds was…

Read More »

Consumer confidence reaches five-month high in January

Consumer confidence has reached a five-month high in January this year, according to figures released today.  The consumer confidence index from polling company GfK reached a score of 1, matching the highs hit in mid-2014 and up from December’s nine-month low of -4. All five measures used to calculate the…

Read More »

Balance of 39% of retailers report sales growth in January

The proportion of retail sectors reporting sales growth in January was a balance of +39%, according to the latest data from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). The CBI’s Distributive Trades Survey, which polled 127 UK retailers, found that volumes grew faster than expected, partly driven by the strongest rise…

Read More »

Jewellery Focus introduces metal prices to Daily Briefing

As of today, Jewellery Focus has begun publishing daily metal prices as part of the Daily Briefing newsletter offering. Subscribers to the Briefing can now read the top stories of the day, the week, the editor’s blog and check out what the price of gold is doing – all before midday. Prices…

Read More »

Retail employment grows marginally in December

December showed the strongest month-on-month growth in retail employment since February 2014, up 0.9% year-on-year, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).  The BRC-Bond Dickinson Retail Employment Monitor which found that growth in December was supported entirely by the non-food sector while the grocery sector continued to to cut back…

Read More »