More finance – Page 170
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Opinion
Credit insurers are too powerful
Ever heard of a home insurer that pulled cover if a storm was forecast? Didn’t think so. But that’s the way credit insurers work.
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Opinion
Questions over Woolies remain
Woolies’ descent into administration poses the classic chicken and egg question.
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Opinion
Recession weeds out the weak
The fittest retailers survive downturns; only those that are already struggling face extinction.
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Opinion
You can’t beat the discounters on price
Property bubbles have burst, credit availability is curbed and unemployment is rising. As a result, customers are cautious.
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Opinion
Time to work on supplier relationships
The plaudits – and the brickbats – in retail are normally taken by the chief executive, with the finance director hovering at their shoulder.
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Opinion
Who is up to the endurance test?
In just months the economic landscape has been transformed. In the past week the political landscape has too, as Chancellor Alistair Darling attempted emergency surgery on the economy. But how much has the retail landscape changed?
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Analysis
Pre-Christmas discounting: Can you cut it?
High street retailers are slashing prices in the Christmas run-up, but is it the answer to their problems, asks Charlotte Hardie
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Opinion
VAT reduction just doesn’t cut it
Oh the irony. Even if Alistair Darling’s 2.5 percentage point cut in VAT had prompted consumers to open their purses this week, they would have been snapped firmly shut again only days later when two household retail names went into administration.
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Analysis
Leasing IT systems: Up for rent?
Leasing IT systems can free up cash for retailers while still allowing them to invest and upgrade. But with banks increasingly wary of lending to the retail sector is it still an option, asks Liz Morrell.
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Opinion
It’s bad but it will get worse
The bold 1.5 percentage point interest rate cut was supposed to help restore consumer confidence.
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Opinion
Best Buy can’t walk on water
John Browett and Hugh Harvey could have been forgiven a little Schadenfreude last week.
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Analysis
Rate rage: £300m in 2009, £1bn from 2010: Why soaring business rates matter to retail
Retailers already pay £6 billion a year in business rates. As things stand, that will increase by about £300 million in 2009 and by as much as £1 billion in 2010.
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Opinion
Business rates are out of kilter with the modern world
Retailers’ focus is clearly on Christmas and if this week’s Sales are anything to go by, stores are already worried that trade will be tough. So why do retailers have to convince the Government to revalue massive hikes to business rates for next year and 2010?
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Opinion
Retailers need to pull together
It’s only one month and not the three required to meet the technical definition, but the October total sales decline announced by the British Retail Consortium this week confirms that retail is entering recession.
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Opinion
Interest rate cut might just work
When the chief executive of Tesco reportedly breakfasts at the weekend with the Governor of the Bank of England, emphasising the extreme fragility of consumer confidence and pressing for an interest rate cut, it’s a sure sign of torrid times.
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AnalysisCost cutting: The lean machine
In these cash-strapped times deep and sustainable cost cutting is the name of the game. Charlotte Hardie looks at how retailers can trim the fat without their service suffering.
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Analysis
Rent holidays: Survival of the weakest
For retailers staring into the abyss a break from paying rent can be a last-gasp solution but, asks Ben Cooper, is it really always going to be the lifeline they are hoping for?
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Opinion
Sainsbury's Justin King is a man of the people
For a while, retailers didn’t want to mention the R word. But now we’ve officially been told we’re moving into a recession, it seems many retailers are having to think about the other R word – redundancies.
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Analysis
Consumer Finance: Would you credit it?
As consumers become more cautious with their cash, Liz Morrell looks at how retailers are keeping their credit offerings flexible without putting themselves at risk.
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Analysis
US Retail: Trading in a state of crisis
As a new president gears up to take charge in the White House, US retail is experiencing an even tougher time than the UK. Charlotte Hardie reports.