More finance – Page 32
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AnalysisAnalysis: Who will be retail’s winners and losers this Christmas?
It’s been a highly unusual year for retail, which has not been without its casualties. As ‘non-essential’ stores emerge from the second lockdown and shoppers swap Christmas parties for working from home and smaller gatherings, which retailers are set to reap the benefits of an unorthodox festive season?
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AnalysisThe Big Question: Should retailers close their stores on Boxing Day this year?
After a tough year, retailers including Pets at Home, Beaverbrooks, Marks & Spencer and Asda have decided to give their colleagues Boxing Day off as a thank you. Retail leaders offer their view on whether the rest of the sector should follow their example.
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AnalysisHow retail changed my life: Tesco’s Rimal Patel – no longer a fish out of water
The life of Tesco’s online director Rimal Patel and his extended family has been shaped beyond recognition by the retail industry over the past five decades.
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OpinionRoger Wade: ‘We need to level the playing field between online and high street’
Last week brought the end of shopping restrictions as retail returned across the UK. Sadly, the second lockdown did more damage than we ever expected as high street retailers suffered a double blow of not only the pandemic, but online competition.
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Opinion‘Essential retailers may have shot sector in foot with rates relief repayments’
In the space of a few days, a wave of essential retailers has voluntarily returned the best part of £2bn in business rates relief to the government. In doing so they have won the public relations battle, but have they lost the long-term rates reform war?
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Opinion‘Arcadia tycoon Green – from retail’s King Midas to King Canute’
Topshop tycoon Sir Philip Green’s fall from grace has been so spectacular and so total that it’s hard to remember what a force he once was.
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AnalysisAnalysis: Tesco’s rate repayment likely to trigger domino effect
Tesco’s decision to repay its business rates relief in full will almost certainly lead to a chain reaction of others following suit. But while other dominoes look set to fall, many in the industry are questioning Tesco’s true motives.
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AnalysisAs Arcadia and Debenhams collapse, what will the aftershock mean for retail?
As December, traditionally the height of retail’s peak trading period begins, two of the industry’s most venerable names have been brought low by the Covid earthquake that has shaken the industry.
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Opinion‘Black Friday exposes a divide retailers can’t afford to be on wrong side of’
Shopify president Harley Finkelstein described retail as a tale of two worlds when he spoke to us last week – the “resistant” and the “resilient”.
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Opinion‘Tiers and fears may disrupt but won’t derail retail recovery’
Much of the country will emerge from lockdown this week facing more restrictions than when it began in November. However, as a new year approaches, retailers can afford to look forward with some optimism after a year of turmoil.
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AnalysisSmiling through tiers: Retailers pin hopes on ‘busier December’ as lockdown lifts
On Thursday, health secretary Matt Hancock rose to his feet in the House of Commons to update MPs and the country about the end of national lockdown on December 2 and a return to the tiered system of restrictions.
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AnalysisWhy Kingfisher’s NeedHelp acquisition is ‘missing piece of the puzzle’
Home and DIY giant Kingfisher announced the acquisition of French start-up NeedHelp this week, marking its first foray into the services sector.
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AnalysisAnalysis: Why would JD Sports want to buy Debenhams?
JD Sports has emerged as the frontrunner to acquire Debenhams and exclusive talks to buy the struggling department store business are underway.
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AnalysisReality stars and social media – how In The Style reached a £100m valuation
Online fashion retailer In The Style is understood to be considering a stock market flotation valuing it at £100m just six years after founder Adam Frisby launched it from his Manchester bedroom.
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AnalysisThe Big Question: Should retailers be paying big dividends during the pandemic?
Big-name retailers, most recently Sainsbury’s, have become embroiled in controversy for paying dividends while benefiting from pandemic assistance measures such as business rates relief. We ask industry experts whether retailers should be giving out dividends during the crisis
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Analysis
Analysis: The great Christmas stock shortage of 2020
While some retailers are concerned about store closures and reduced demand, others are more worried about having enough stock to get through the crucial Christmas period.
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OpinionSuzy Ross: ‘Why the market is more forgiving of Farfetch’s losses than those of M&S’
Just a few months before Marks & Spencer reported its first loss as a public company, Farfetch disclosed a quarterly loss of a much greater magnitude than M&S’ £88m.
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OpinionJulian Richer: ‘Questioning Sunak’s rates decision is not selling out retail’
Following Retail Week’s recent article about retailers squabbling like “cats in a bag”, I felt the need to write after some comments I made at the recent Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference may have been misunderstood.
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AnalysisAs ‘for sale’ sign is raised over Homebase who might be potential buyers?
Homebase has revealed it is up for sale after returning to profitability. We take a look at who could be in the running to acquire the DIY specialist.
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AnalysisAnalysis: Vaccine joy sparks share price snakes and ladders
Welcome news of a coronavirus vaccine has sparked a stock market shift as investors rushed to buy and sell shares. Big-name retail and other consumer stocks shunned during the pandemic were back in fashion, while lockdown stars took a hit.
