Economy

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Footfall in August was down 1.1% compared to the same month last year despite the best sales growth since January, according to new figures.  The British Retail Consortium (BRC) Springboard Footfall Monitor said the high street was the worst performing area with footfall down 2.8% on the previous year –…

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BRC: August retail sales growth ‘best since January’

Retail sales in August grew 1.3% compared with August 2013 on a like-for-like basis, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).  In the best performance since January, the BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor showed total sales were up 2.7%, with growth largely driven by sales of clothing and footwear, which reported…

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Britain’s shop vacancy rate falls to its lowest level since June 2010

Britain’s shop vacancy rate fell to 13.3% in August, down from 13.4% in July, its lowest level since June 2010.  New research from the Local Data Company shows that the overall retail and leisure vacancy rate also decreased from 11.9% to 11.8%. Matthew Hopkinson, director at the Local Data Company,…

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Economic recovery solid, but growth ‘will even out’: CBI

The UK economic recovery is on solid ground but growth will even out in the second half of 2014 and into next year, the CBI said in its latest economic forecast. The UK’s leading business group forecasts 3.0% growth in 2014 and 2.7% in 2015, unchanged from May. Between the…

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Signet Jewelers report 17.1% UK sales increase in second quarter

Signet Jewelers, the parent company of Ernest Jones and H.Samuel, has reported a total increase of 17.1% in UK sales in its second quarter financial results.  Same-store sales increased by 4.4% in the same period, while total sales reached $162.9m (£98.2m) in the UK. Online sales in the UK increased…

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UK gold demand increases by 21%, says World Gold Council

UK demand from gold rose by 21% in the second quarter of this year, compared with the same period the previous year according to the World Gold Council’s latest figures. On a global scale, Q2 represents more than half of total annual demand for gold.  Highlights from WGC’s report: Jewellery: Second…

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July hallmarking rises 9.4%, gold carries poor performers

July 2014 showed a continued growth trajectory in gold hallmarking figures, with 9ct gold rising 28.1%, and 14ct and 18ct gold increasing 30% and 22.3%, compared with July 2013. But the figures, collated from the UK’s four major assay offices by the Birmingham Assay Office, showed a mixed picture for…

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LVMH enjoys 3% rise in H1 jewellery and watch revenue

Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH),  recorded revenue of €14 billion in the first half of 2014, an increase of 3%, with its jewellery and watches category matching 3% growth. Organic revenue growth for the whole group was 5% compared with the same period in 2013, and in a statement LVMH described “resilience”…

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14ct gold surges 60% in June hallmarking figures

Rising hallmarking figures showed no signs of slowing in June with the four UK assay offices reporting a 60.1% rise in the number of 14ct articles hallmarked, and a 17.1% rise for gold overall, compared with June 2013. But whilst the total number of articles hallmarked across all categories rose…

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High street retailers struggle to keep up with online shopping

Bricks-and-mortar retail stores are struggling to keep up as footfall falls while online retail grows, according to a new report by ‘the voice of e-retail’, IMRG.  The report, entitled ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ which used index data from various sources including ONS, IMRG and BRC, discovered that town and…

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