2014 has been a year of flotations, fires and financial fumbles for retailers. Retail Week casts an eye back over the events that defined the past 12 months.

Retail Week's 2014 in review

Move from left to right on the timeline below, to see the biggest developments in retail during 2014:

It’s been an unforgettable year for retail. Tesco’s catastrophic fall from grace grabbed most of the headlines after it admitted overstating profits, caught the eye of the Serious Fraud Office, reshuffled its management team and issued four profit warnings.

Along with the rest of the big four, Tesco has suffered as Aldi and Lidl continued their impressive march this year. 2014 also marked the year the markets welcomed a host of retail IPOs, as no fewer than 12 retailers floated on the stock market.