The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed UK retail sales grew by just 0.2% last month – slightly less than the 0.3% expected by analysts. The slight gain was much slower than the 0.8% increase the previous month as households continue to be squeezed by higher inflation, rising unemployment and sluggish wage growth. [...]
High Street sales remain sluggish, rising slightly in April compared with a year ago, but disappointing retailers’ expectations. According to the latest Distributive Trades Survey from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), only 12% of retailers reported “good” sales last month, while 35% said they were “poor”. However, many retailing sub-sectors saw a modest improvement [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today reported a rise in UK retail sales for the month of March. According to the ONS, sales volumes registered a surprise rise of 0.2% on a monthly basis – driven by strong food and non-store sales. However, other sectors which performed well included garden stores and toy [...]
The heavy snowfall which gripped most of the country last month has hit more retailers, figures showed today. December 2010 was the coldest nationally since records began in 1910. Yesterday, Next – Britain’s second largest fashion retailer, said sales for the five months to Christmas Eve – at shops open at least a year – [...]
Employers’ group, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has today said it is against existing banking giants being broken up. The comments from the CBI come just a few weeks after Britain’s Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) said it was looking at ways to increase competition and choice among high street banks. One option could [...]
IMRG, an industry body for global e-retailing, has reported online sales soared in July – at the quickest pace in three years. According to the industry body, the rain discouraged shoppers from venturing onto the high street and opting to purchase from the comfort of their own home. According to IMRG, £5 billion was spent [...]
Metro Bank, which aims to make banking a “fun retail experience” opens in Holborn, central London today. The bank is Britain’s first new high street lender for more than a century and it has pledged to return to “core banking values”. The bank said it will employ more cashiers than the existing “big four” banks, [...]
A survey by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has revealed a fall in UK retail sales for the month of May. Its monthly distributive trades survey reported a sales balance of -18 in May from +13 in April – a 14-month low and the biggest one-month drop in the index since January 2005. According [...]
The UK’s recovery from recession was at a snail’s pace in the first quarter of 2010, with GDP growing by an estimated 0.2%, or just half analysts’ expectations of 0.4%. According to the Office for National Statistics, progress was also half that made in the final quarter of 2009, when output increased by 0.4% once [...]
The John Lewis Partnership, which is seen as a barometer of British retailing, today announced that sales grew 10% in the week to 10 April, compared with the same period a year ago. The renowned employee-owned department store said customers are still spending despite the uncertainty over next months’ election. The firm has been outperforming [...]
Metro Bank, which was recently granted a banking licence by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), has told Sky News that it plans to make banking a “fun retail experience”. The bank, which is set to become Britain’s first new high street lender for more than a century, is set to open two branches in central [...]
Supermarket giant, Tesco, has announced a sharp rise in Christmas sales and follows strong sales from other major retailers, boosting hopes that the economy has finally emerged from recession. Tesco, which is the UK’s largest retailer, said it experienced its best Christmas in the UK for three years with total UK sales in the six [...]
The John Lewis Partnership, which is seen as a barometer of British retailing, said like-for-like sales were up 12.7% in the five weeks to 2 January 2010 compared with a year ago. The figures will boost hopes that the economy is making a recovery as consumers begin to spend again. Furthermore, the renowned employee-owned department [...]
Shoppers were out looking for bargains on Boxing Day after millions flooded the High Street. Shoppers were queuing from 4am at the Bullring shopping centre in Birmingham, while shoppers queued at Lakeside shopping centre in Essex as early as 5am. Retail analysts said around 12 million people hit the High Street on Saturday – with [...]
As little as 6% of the cover price of charity Christmas cards sold by high street retailers is passed on to the charity they allege to support, an investigation has uncovered. Charities earn an estimated £50 million per year from Christmas card sales, with charity cards sold by mainstream retailers making a significant contribution to [...]
Britain’s urban dwellers are shunning the high street in favour of the internet to buy Christmas presents, PayPal has revealed. Over 40% of the people living in the UK’s major cities have increased the amount of shopping they do online in the past 12 months, a study by the online payments service found. Manchester and [...]
There are signs of recovery within the US manufacturing sector after the Federal Reserve reported a rise in industrial production for the month of September. The US central bank said output at the nation’s factories, mines and utilities grew 0.7% during the month – higher than the 0.2% rise expected by analysts and follows the [...]
Figures show that US consumers continue to seek out bargains amid the downturn as US discount retailer, Family Dollar, posted a 13% rise in fourth quarter profits. The store said it continues to attract budget-conscious shoppers who are looking to buy its discounted name-brand consumables. The store stocks items for under $10 and has been [...]
The US economy has surprised analysts again, this time by announcing a dip in retail sales for the month of July. The fall of 0.1% for July follows two months of gains, according to the Commerce Department. Analysts described the figures as disappointing as they had been expecting a rise of 0.7% in overall sales [...]
M&S Money launches 3% cash ISA
M&S Money has launched an Advantage Cash ISA paying 3 per cent, and which allows transfers in from other ISAs. It can be opened with a minimum deposit of £100 lump sum followed by minimum monthly deposits of £25. The 3% rate is variable, but there is no short-term bonus so the return won’t plummet [...]
Google suspends UK Compare Mortgages site
Google has closed its UK mortgage comparison site which it launched in July last year, after it proved to be less popular than expected. Mortgage comparison sites are designed to allow visitors to compare mortgages quickly and easily without having to visit each lender’s individual site. Google was competing with several well-established comparison sites, including [...]
AA launches ‘black-box’ policy for young drivers
The AA is launching an innovative car insurance policy called Drivesafe which could help younger drivers save up to £850 a year. Younger drivers already pay substantially higher premiums than other motorists and these costs are increasing. A new study by Confused.com suggests insurance costs for younger driver have gone up by 5.7 per cent [...]
ATOL scheme updated to protect online bookers
ATOL, a financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is being extended to protect up to six million more holidays a year. The scheme ensures that holiday makers do not lose out financially if a travel company collapses, and that they are not stranded abroad. An increase in the number of holidays booked [...]
Home repossessions lowest for four years
The number of UK homes repossessed fell to 36,200 in 2011, significantly below the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ forecast of 40,000, and lower than 2010 when 37,100 homes were repossessed. With interest rates remaining low and lenders adopting a sympathetic attitude to customers in financial difficulty, repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007. However, [...]
Monthly pay lasting just 17 days
Workers are running out of money just 17 days after receiving their monthly pay, according to new research by the Halifax bank. This means that the average UK worker spends half the month worrying about money. The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 adults, found that 10 per cent of workers start [...]
Women disadvantaged by auto-enrolment changes
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Emergency household repairs company Homeserve is taking longer than expected to get back on track after its operations were suspended last October. The company expected customer numbers to fall by 5% this year but it has increased this estimate to 8% and announced the loss of 200 jobs. It estimates that renewal revenue in 2013 [...]
Sale rumoured for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks
There is growing speculation that National Australia Bank (NAB) may sell Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank after the Australian parent company announced a strategic review of the two banks’ operations. The Australian economy is performing well and NAB reported strong profits for the final quarter of 2011 but with the UK economy at a virtual [...]
More women experiencing debt difficulties
Women in Debt, which offers female-focused debt advice, has warned that the number of UK women facing serious debt has grown significantly over recent years. The organisation believes that more women will need advice on solving debt problems in the future because they are building up an unsustainable level of indebtedness. Women in Debt’s director, [...]
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