All Opinion articles
Most recent first.
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Opinion‘As the way we work changes forever, let’s not forget the value of office life’
When John Lewis Partnership chair Sharon White wrote in a recent letter to partners that “difficult decisions taken now will hopefully set the course for those next generations”, she was referring to the rebalancing of the business’ operations from store-based to digital channels.
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Opinion
AO’s Danny Emmett: ‘Pitting online and in-store against each other is a false fight’
Great innovators from Henry Ford to Steve Jobs had it right. Don’t just give customers what they ask for, give them what they don’t know they want yet
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Opinion
‘Retail not essential? Try telling that to reopening day shoppers’
There was a joyful sense of release on Monday when, after three months of lockdown darkness, so-called non-essential shops reopened.
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Opinion
Peter Williams: ‘To fully restart retail we need a return to pre-Covid behaviour’
When asked my views about looking forward for retail, the honest answer is: “I’m really not sure that I know.”
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Opinion
Helen Dickinson: ‘Don’t build back better – build forward’
With the third wave subsiding, over half the adult population receiving their first vaccination and the reopening of so called ‘non-essential’ retail, we all hope we might just be entering the recovery stage of this pandemic.
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Opinion
Alia Hawa: ‘Covid certificates are unnecessary and will damage retail’s recovery’
With non-essential retail reopening today, news that the government is considering making Covid certificates mandatory for customers in stores comes as another blow.
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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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Opinion
Kate Hardcastle: ‘Successful high streets will have the human at their heart’
As retailers prepare to reopen, there has been much focus on what the future high street will look like.
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Opinion
Fran Minogue: ‘2020 could be seen as the lost year – but look what we found’
A year ago almost to the day, I wrote an article exploring how retail chief executives were grappling with the challenges of Covid-19 and starting to plan for a post-pandemic world.
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Opinion
Sally Elliott: ‘The past year has ushered in a new style of management’
Retail leaders are facing big challenges as the country emerges from lockdown. They will set the tone for a new era of collaboration and innovation.
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Opinion
Ken Murphy: ‘What Tesco is doing to tackle climate change now’
The food we eat – how it is produced, processed and transported, how much we eat or waste – has a significant impact on the environment. Food is responsible for nearly a third of global greenhouse gas emissions and almost 70% of global biodiversity loss on land.
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Opinion
‘As lockdown relaxes, retailers must pick up where they left off in 2019’
After a long, dark winter, Covid restrictions are at last beginning to be relaxed and retailers forced to shut during lockdown can look forward to reopening.
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Opinion
Michael Jary: ‘Never again should we accept the notion of non-essential workers’
It took a global pandemic to prompt society to reflect on the importance of work performed not only by healthcare and home care providers, but by delivery drivers, grocery store employees and other critical but modestly paid workers.
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Opinion
‘Retail leaders face the task of reuniting furloughed and non-furloughed staff’
The government’s furlough scheme has been a lifeline for many retailers forced to cease or limit trading during the coronavirus pandemic.
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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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Opinion
‘Thorntons’ plight lays bare risks of chasing revenue over relevance’
Britain’s high streets mourned the loss of another business this week. Thorntons became the latest name to shut up shop as the chocolatier said its 61 stores will not reopen when lockdown restrictions are lifted next month.
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Opinion
‘New partnerships such as Next and Reiss are shaping retail’s future’
Agility and partnerships go hand in hand with brand relevance and evolution. So do innovation and investment.
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Opinion
Move of the Week: Waitrose veteran upgrades to Fortnum & Mason CCO role
Where does a passionate foodie go after ending a 17-year career at upmarket grocer Waitrose? The answer in the case of Rupert Thomas is an even more upmarket grocer in the form of Fortnum Mason.
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Opinion
‘JLP and Morrisons’ green and community drives provide platform to rebuild’
One would be forgiven for thinking British business was on the brink of collapse amid some of the headlines this morning.
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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.
