Opinion – Page 49
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OpinionOpinion: Consumers want the human touch, not touchscreens
If you’ve been watching TV of late, you’ll likely have seen the Microsoft AI advert where an actor makes ambitious claims about “ay-aah”.
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OpinionOpinion: Will CVA rent reductions cut retailers' business rates?
2018 was dubbed the year of the CVA, allowing firms battling the structural changes taking place across Britain’s embattled high streets to not only close unprofitable stores hit by increasing cost pressures but to also seek rent reductions, often between 20% and 75%.
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OpinionOpinion: CMA is wrong to kibosh Sainsbury's-Asda deal
It is not the job of the CMA to throw a protective arm around moribund businesses unable to adapt to changing competitive conditions.
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OpinionOpinion: Sainsbury's results could be final act for Coupe and Co
It seems bizarre to even consider describing the full-year results of one of Britain’s largest retailers as a sideshow.
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OpinionOpinion: How to fix retail's recruitment problem
Just as the nature of retail is changing and transforming at an ever-quickening pace, so are the multitude of jobs that make up the industry.
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OpinionOpinion: Bigger margins are not always better
UK retailing is now entrenched in a trend of declining profitability, though many – particularly the investment and landlord communities – remain in denial.
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OpinionOpinion: If Bezos sees bricks and mortar opportunity, so should other retailers
Well-known retail names are shrinking their store estates as fast as you can say CVA.
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OpinionOpinion: Grocers are making real progress in the war on plastic
It can often be difficult, for a cynic such as myself, to differentiate between an outbreak of opportunistic bandwagon jumping and a genuine sea change in corporate behaviour.
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OpinionOpinion: These smaller retailers are the industry's real winners
The retail sector is undergoing an important shift in its evolution, with consumer choice never stronger thanks to a wave of small and nimble operators disrupting established players.
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OpinionMove of the Week: Turning the Page at Ted Baker
The news that Ted Baker has resisted bringing in an outsider to replace Ray Kelvin as chief executive will, I’m sure, be met with surprise in many quarters.
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OpinionClive Black: Tesco and Lewis deserve a pat on the back
Tesco has issued a set of preliminary results that underscore its recovery and set the expectation for brighter times ahead.
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OpinionOpinion: JD Sports has plenty of track left to run
JD Sports holds the unique position of being both Sports Direct’s biggest rival and, in many ways, its polar opposite.
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OpinionDebenhams needs renewed purpose post-administration
The redundancy of Debenhams’ once-vaunted claim to be ‘Britain’s favourite department store’ was sadly laid bare as it fell into a pre-pack administration today.
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OpinionOpinion: Alexa, is voice the next frontier in retail?
Over the next few years, voice technology will transform how we search, communicate and shop.
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OpinionOpinion: What the latest Brexit impasse means for retail
Tuesday’s marathon cabinet meeting finally confirmed, as many of us suspected, that the current configuration of the prime minister’s Brexit deal will not get through this parliament.
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OpinionMove of the Week: Dunkerton faces boardroom balancing act
It’s not often I get to write about a boardroom coup in this column but it’s hard to think of any other way to describe Julian Dunkerton’s return to the Superdry board.
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OpinionOpinion: Philip Day has given Bonmarché a lifeline
Philip Day has secured the survival of previously written-off brands such as Jane Norman, Peacocks and Jaeger despite stronger competition and downbeat consumer sentiment.
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OpinionOpinion: He won the battle – now begins Dunkerton's war
Julian Dunkerton has won his campaign to return to the business he co-founded, having engineered a boardroom coup.
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OpinionTheo Paphitis: Look behind the headlines on gender pay data
As I said in 2018 when the first gender pay gap data was released, we must be aware that statistics are not always black and white and there is a danger in viewing them as such.
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OpinionJacqueline Gold: Why Ann Summers is taking on Google
Receiving the Retail Activist award at the Retail Week Awards last month was one of the proudest moments of my career.