Inflation
Inflation has significant implications for the UK jewellery trade, affecting everything from raw material costs to consumer spending habits. For jewellers, suppliers, and manufacturers, understanding how inflation influences pricing, margins, and operational decisions is critical to staying resilient in a shifting economic climate. Jewellery Focus provides expert coverage on inflation trends, market analysis, and insights into strategies trade professionals are adopting to mitigate its impact across the supply chain and retail sector.
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Oct- 2021 -27 OctoberEconomy
Chancellor unveils 50% rates discount for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has unveiled a 50% discount on business rates for the hospitality, retail and leisure sectors (up to £110,000), equating to a business tax cut worth £1.7bn, the biggest single-year rates cut for firms in over 30 years. Unveiling his latest Budget in the Commons today (27 October),…
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Apr- 2021 -29 AprilEconomy
Global gold jewellery demand climbs 52%
The volume of gold jewellery purchased by global consumers has reportedly increased by 477.4 tonnes (t) year-on-year for Q1 2021, representing an annual rise in value of 52%. According to the World Gold Council (WGC), the increase in demand can be attributed to a decline in the price of gold…
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Jun- 2020 -3 JuneCoronavirus
Biggest decline in shop prices since 2006
May shop prices tumbled at the fastest rate of decline since 2006, falling by 2.4% against a 1.7% decrease in April. This was “largely” driven by a sharp fall in non-food prices, which fell “sharply” by 4.6% in the period, compared to a decline of 3.6% the month prior. This…
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Mar- 2020 -11 MarchBusiness Bites
ROUNDUP: Business rates holiday announced by chancellor Sunak
In his maiden budget, the new chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has announced a £30bn fiscal stimulus package to help combat the impact of coronavirus on the British economy including a one-year total suspension of business rates for small retail, leisure and hospitality businesses. Headline measures include: A £12bn plan to provide…
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Feb- 2020 -10 FebruaryAnalysis
Ocado ditches Waitrose; Bill gates orders £500m beast-yacht; Boris to lower immigration wage threshold
A busy start to the week in the business pages. As the coronavirus story unfolds I am reluctant to spend every day providing updates on it, but it is worth noting quickly that there is likely to be some worldwide economic turbulence due to the latest developments. A slew of…
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Jan- 2020 -15 JanuaryAnalysis
Boohoo more valuable than M&S – a sea-change encapsulated
From a purely journalistic standpoint it is now a de facto cliché to refer to Marks and Spencer as the “high street bellwether”, yet that is the status it has held for so many decades. The once mighty monolith was the first British retailer to reach a market capitalisation of…
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9 JanuaryAnalysis
Who would have thought skinny jeans could be anyone’s undoing?
It’s not often that the business pages give you a good belly laugh. But today we have the spectacle of Marks & Spencer blaming its poor Christmas trading results partly on an oversupply of skinny jeans for men. Apparently customer surveys revealed that the high street bellwether’s ranges were “too…
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Nov- 2019 -1 NovemberEconomy
Treasury Committee urges MPs to reform ‘broken’ business rates
The government has been urged to fix the “broken” business rates system as it is continuing to affect high street retailers, a Treasury committee has said. An influential group of MPs has asked the government to examine alternatives to property tax, which puts more pressure on high street retailers than…
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Jul- 2019 -4 JulyRetailers
Shop prices turn deflationary for first time since October 2018
Shop prices have turned deflationary for the first time since October 2018, according to the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC)-Nielsen Shop Price Index. In June, shop prices fell by 0.1%, compared with May when prices increased by 0.8%. This is below the 12- and six-month average price…
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Apr- 2019 -18 AprilRetailers
UK retail sector bounces back in March
In the three months to March 2019, the quantity bought in retail sales increased by 1.6% compared with the previous quarter in 2018, according to new figures from the ONS. The sales increase has been attributed to “sustained growth” throughout the first three months of the year, and all store…
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