Coronavirus

Redundancies planned by 60% of mid-sized firms

More than half (60%) of the UK’s medium-sized businesses are planning redundancies as a result of the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme coming to an end in October, according to new research from accountancy and business advisory firm, BDO. BDO’s monthly Rethinking the Economy survey of 500 medium-sized businesses across…

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Tiffany sales begin to recover

Tiffany and Co has reported its financial results for the three months and half-year ended July 31, 2020. The group began to return to profitability during the second quarter of 2020 following “meaningful sequential improvements” in monthly worldwide net sales from May to July. In light of this, worldwide net…

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EOHO boosts retail footfall in last week of August

Footfall across all UK retail destinations rose by 6% over the week ended 29 August, according to the latest figures from Springboard.  The latest figures still marked an annual decline of 26.1%, though this was a “noticeable improvement” against the year-on-year decline of 30.7% the week before.  In the final…

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Majority of retail office workers feel unsafe returning to work after Covid-19

Only 28% of office workers in the retail, catering and leisure sector feel safe returning to work after the pandemic, despite new health and safety measures that have been put in place. This is according to new research from insurance provider Protectivity, which asked office workers around the UK how…

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UK footfall accelerates fourfold 

Footfall in UK retail destinations rose by 4.1% last week against the week before, marking a “significant” acceleration in the prior week’s rise of 0.8%, and 1.8% rise in the same week last year.   According to the latest data from Springboard, this was largely driven by rises in footfall of…

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Watches of Switzerland returns to growth

Watches of Switzerland has reported that full-year revenue rose by 5.9% to £819.3m in the period ended 26 April, 2020.  Before lockdown, the group reported “strong” trading during the 46 weeks to 15 March, with group revenue soaring by 15.8%. Revenue was up by 9.4% across UK operations, and its…

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Retail sales rise for second month in a row

Total sales increased by 3.2% in July, against an increase of 0.5% in July 2019, marking the second consecutive month of growth since the start of the pandemic. According to the latest BRC-KPMG retail sales monitor, UK retail sales increased by 4.3% in the month against the year prior, following…

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Poor July sales rock high street recovery

Poor in-store sales through the month of July have “dampened hopes of a recovery” across UK high streets, according to the latest High Street Sales Tracker from BDO. In-store like-for-like sales decreased by 39.4% last month, down from a marginal base of 0.1% that was reported the year before.  According…

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July footfall bolstered by hospitality reopening

Footfall in retail destinations across the UK was down by 39.4% in July, according to the latest figures from Springboard. Nonetheless, this marked an improvement of nearly a fifth from June, with the month ending with the best result recorded since February. Footfall was reportedly boosted by the reopening of…

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Mandatory face coverings spark ‘modest’ uplift in footfall

Footfall across all UK retail destinations saw a “modest” uplift last week, with footfall up by 2.8% against the week prior. According to Springboard, this may have been boosted by the mandatory use of face coverings in shops, after footfall was up by 4.4% the weekend the rule was introduced. …

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