More finance – Page 18
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Opinion
‘Grocers like the Co-op should not be vilified for holding on to rates relief’
Before making this point, let’s be perfectly clear: I was among those who expected the Co-op to repay its business rates relief this week.
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Analysis
Analysis: Co-op’s business rates return refusal – prudent or a PR disaster?
Another impressive set of annual results for the Co-op has been overshadowed by its decision to keep business rates relief. Group chief executive Steve Murrells explains the decision and claims it has the full backing of members.
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Analysis
Analysis: How Next’s Total Platform is ‘following the money’ online
Bellwether retailer Next unveiled its full-year results today, confirming that online is doing better than ever and providing more information on its latest etail venture.
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Analysis
Analysis: Has private equity ownership done retail more harm than good?
Buy cheap, pile on debt, flog assets and extract the value, sell high to a new owner and pay yourself handsomely – that’s one characterisation of private equity, with recently collapsed department store group Debenhams seen as the poster child in critics’ eyes.
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Analysis
Retail with purpose: how to pin down yours
More than ever, consumers are looking to shop with brands with purpose – those that share the same values as themselves. But how do retailers establish what their purpose is and how do they communicate it to staff and shoppers?
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Opinion
The Keynote: Let’s stop bashing UK retail’s online stars
The Keynote: Let’s stop bashing UK retail’s online stars
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Opinion
Matt Truman: ‘The UK should focus on becoming champions of the internet’
I was humbled recently to be asked by the government to contribute future policy recommendations to supercharge post-Brexit growth.
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Analysis
Analysis: How Greggs is looking towards the future of food-to-go
Beloved UK high street baker Greggs has been hit hard by lockdown store closures and changing customer behaviours. Retail Week analyses how the business is future-proofing itself
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Analysis
Analysis: Could customers become your most important investors?
After Deliveroo revealed it would be making £50m worth of shares available to customers, could consumers become important investors in retailers?
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Analysis
Five lessons from Christmas retailers must act on to nail peak 2021
Christmas 2020 might have been unique, but it produced learnings that will be crucial for all retailers as they navigate a much-changed market. Here are five key lessons taken from Retail Week’s Christmas 2020: Learnings for the year ahead report that retailers need to act on now to nail peak 2021.
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Analysis
Is John Lewis at risk of becoming a ‘middle-class Argos’?
John Lewis Partnership’s first full-year loss in its history revealed the scale of disruption affecting the retailer, particularly its eponymous department store division.
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Analysis
Analysis: How Morrisons blazed a grocery trail through the Covid crisis
Morrisons’ profits might have fallen over the past year, but the grocer’s chief executive David Potts painted a picture of a business that has used a period of unparallelled upheaval to readjust its priorities for the future.
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Analysis
Super-deduction: what it is and the retailers that could benefit
As part of the Budget last week, chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled a ’super-deduction’ allowance to provide relief for certain businesses – but what does it mean for retail?
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Opinion
Ian Middleton: ‘Councils shouldn’t play around with shopping centre investments’
In recent years, local authorities have created something of a commercial property gold rush.
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Analysis
The Big Question: Will raising rates on warehouses really save the high street?
After chancellor Rishi Sunak delayed the findings of the Treasury’s business rates review until the autumn, we ask experts whether the proposal from Dixons Carphone boss Alex Baldock and Next chief executive Lord Wolfson to increase rates paid by warehouses is the way to revamp the system
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Analysis
Analysis: Retail’s wishlist for the chancellor ahead of the Budget
Following a year of unprecedented financial pain brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, retailers lay out what they would like to see in Wednesday’s Budget.
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Opinion
Erin Brookes: ‘There is no doubt that further retail consolidation is coming’
Green shoots of optimism may be germinating, but it is certain that the last 12 months have left an irreversible imprint on the UK’s retail industry.
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Deep dive
Deep dive: The new Asda – saddled with debt or a return to former glory?
As reports emerge that chief executive Roger Burnley is stepping down, Retail Week looks at what Asda under their controversial new owners the Issa brothers will look like.
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Analysis
Data: The sectors that thrived online over Christmas – and what it means for 2021
Online was undoubtedly the big winner of Christmas 2020. Retail Week’s latest report delves into which sectors benefited most from the shift to ecommerce and what that means for the year ahead.
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Analysis
The Big Question: How should business rates be reformed?
Ahead of the Budget on March 3, the thorny issue of business rates has again hit the headlines, with a joint letter, spearheaded by Tesco, calling for a digital tax to be levied on pureplays. Retail Week asks experts what can be done to make business rates fairer?