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Retail Sector

Retail Sector •

H&M latest retailer to trial staff body cameras | Retail Sector

H&M has started trialling body-worn cameras for its staff in the UK as retailers seek to address rising levels of theft and violence in stores.
According to This is Money, the Swedish fashion retailer is testing the equipment at branches in Edinburgh, Wood Green and Beckton in London. 
It follows similar moves by Tesco, the Co-operative Group and Lidl, which have rolled out bodycams to staff in response to growing concerns about employee safety. Staff have reported incidents of verbal abuse,...
Retail Sector •

Bensons for Beds losses widen as market pressures persist | Retail Sector

Bensons for Beds has reported widening losses of £22m for the year ended 28 September 2024, up from £19.9m the previous year, as it continues to face external market pressures and internal operational issues.
The group’s pre-tax loss included £8.8m in interest payments, £5.6m in depreciation, and £4.4m in International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) charges.
Revenue declined slightly to £256.3m, down from £257.5m in 2023. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisatio...
Retail Sector •

How is Westfield’s new Health and Wellness Village reshaping retail spaces | Retail Sector

Westfield London has announced the opening of its new Wellness Village, in a move to cater to the growing demand for  accessible health and wellness experiences within a retail setting. The new space offers over 50,000 sq. ft. of health and wellness brands and services. 
According to the latest report from the Global Wellness Institute (GWI), the UK wellness industry has been witnessing extraordinary growth. The UK wellness economy reached a staggering $224bn (£168.26bn) in 2022, positioning it...
Retail Sector •

M&S celebrates bumper Xmas as sales top £4bn | Retail Sector

M&S has reported a successful Christmas trading update as its total group sales increased by 5.6% to £4bn in the 13 weeks to 28 December 2024.
The group’s food sales increased 8.7%, with LFL sales up 8.9%. Core categories, such as meat, produce, grocery and in-store bakery grew double-digits as customers chose M&S for more of their everyday shopping.
Its ‘Remarksable’ value range sales also grew 14%. Meanwhile, Clothing, Home and Beauty sales increased 1.0%, with LFL sales up 1.9%, ahead of the...
Hotel Owner •

The UK ranks among top 10 travel destinations for 2025, Siteminder finds | Hotel Owner

A new report by software platform SiteMinder shows that the UK ranks among top 10 travel destinations for 2025, above Thailand, Turkey and Greece. The report highlighted strong interest among incoming travellers from Canada––where the UK was the third preferred travel destination for next year, Australia (4th) and Spain (4th). Respondents from heavyweight source markets such as the US, Italy and France also expressed strong interest in the UK, with the country ranking sixth in the former two and...
Retail Sector •

How to prepare your store for the holiday season | Retail Sector

Act early and hire extra staff
As mentioned earlier, the holiday season tends to attract more people to stores and this can sometimes make the store management overwhelmed especially if they are understaffed. Hiring additional staff for the festive period can significantly ease the holiday rush for retail businesses. With more team members, stores can better handle increased foot traffic, ensuring customers receive timely assistance and shorter wait times at checkout, which enhances the shopping...
Retail Sector •

iSmash eyes sale amid growing losses

iSmash is reportedly exploring a possible sale of the business after its auditors warned of a ­“material uncertainty” over its future amid growing losses, the Times has reported.

According to its recent trading update, the company revealed it fell further into the red in the year to the end of December 2022, with pre-tax losses widening from £2.6m to £5.9m, which it said reflected a “significant reduction” in pandemic-related government support.

Its auditors Saffery LLP stated that the busines
Retail Sector •

How much is the ‘tourist tax’ harming retailers

The Centre for Economics and Business Research has calculated that the “tourist tax” is costing the UK £10.7bn in lost GDP and deterring two million tourists from visiting the country per year. The report from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) claims that the additional revenue generated by restoring a VAT rebate scheme would outweigh losses associated with VAT refunds by £2.3bn.

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Retail Sector •

Is Tik-Tok Shop a boon or a bane for retailers?

Is Tik-Tok Shop a boon or a bane for retailers?

TikTok Shop’s partnership with CommerceHub leverages the app’s ability to cultivate emerging fashion and shopping trends to promote and sell products to TikTok’s user base. CommerceHub‘s ChannelAdvisor marketplace integration solutions provide TikTok with a streamlined connection for brands to connect to TikTok Shop with advanced onboarding tools and APIs.

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Jewellery Focus

Accountancy Today

Accountancy Today •

Shaw Gibbs’ acquisitions and expansion

Can you tell me about yourself and the history of Shaw Gibbs?

I am Sarah Gardener, and I’m one of the three partners who sits on the management board of Shaw Gibbs. Shaw Gibbs is a well-established professional services firm, predominantly in Oxford over the last 100 years, having acquired a London office back in 2016. We provide expert solutions for entrepreneurial businesses and private individuals in Central and Southern England.

Considering you just acquired Wise and Co, how did you identi

Hotel Owner & Catering Today

Hotel Owner •

Britannia Hotels-owned Pontins closes third holiday park

Britannia Hotels-owned Pontins has announced the closure of its third holiday park in two months.

Pontins Southport Holiday Park shut permanently on 3 January and prior to this, its parks in Prestatyn and Camber Sands shut on 30 November

Pontins, which was founded in 1946, was bought out of administration by Britannia Hotels in 2011.

The group, which started with six sites, now has only two sites in Lowestoft and Weston-Super-Mare.

It stated that customers whose bookings will be affected b
Catering Today •

Why are insolvencies more likely to affect the hospitality sector?

Why are insolvencies more likely to affect the hospitality sector?

According to PwC’s outlook for 2024, there will be a significant rise in corporate insolvencies in 2024, just shy of 30,000 with smaller businesses accounting for the lion’s share. However, it further added that industries most impacted are likely to be hotels and catering, along with manufacturing, and transport and storage.

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Catering Today •

More than 4,500 Stonegate pubs at risk amid £2.6bn debt

More than 4,500 Stonegate pubs could be at risk as parent company TDR capital seeks to refinance £2.5bn of debt, GMB Union has warned.

Gary Lindsay, boss of TDR Capital which also owns supermarket giant Asda, told the Business and Trade Select Committee on Tuesday [9 January] he was ‘confident’ £2.6bn of debts in the Stonegate Pub Company could be refinanced this year.

However, the union has raised concerns that with current high interest rates the refinancing could lead to crippling payments
Catering Today •

All About the Cooks vs delivery apps

Can you tell me about the history of All About the Cooks and how did you come up with the concept?

My background is in marketing and advertising, and after having children, I worked as a consultant. Eating real meals prepared by real people rather than factory-produced goods has always interested me. My kids eventually became tired of hearing me tell them to eat an egg if they wanted fast food. It’s kind of my life mantra in terms of fast food.

Back in 2018, I was chatting with a friend, and w