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22 Mar 2024

Rob Brown, co-director of Dalby Forest Cycle Hub, a not-for-profit hire scheme has been nominated for the Tourism Superstar 2024 award, run by VisitEngland.

21 Mar 2024

ACS (The Association of Convenience Stores) and the Federation of Independent Retailers (The Fed) have both welcomed a new report published by the Association of Police and Crime...

21 Mar 2024

As reported by Healthstores UK, new data contained in the 2024 Soil Association Organic Market report shows that independent retailers delivered an impressive 10% growth in 2023, with...

21 Mar 2024

An independent bottle shop and bar in Cheltenham has been named as the UK's Independent Beer and Wine Retailer of the Year 2024 at the Drinks Retailing Awards. 

21 Mar 2024

A number of organisations, including Bira (the British Independent Retailers’ Association), other trade associations, BIDs and unions have met with officials from the Welsh Government to...

21 Mar 2024

The British Independent Retailers’ Association (Bira) has reacted to data released by PwC and the Local Data Company exploring the state of the UK retail landscape.

6 Mar 2024

The Greeting Card Association has reacted to a BBC Panorama programme lifting the lid on Royal Mail management prioritising parcel delivery over letters, which it says are in contradiction of...

4 Mar 2024

Pop star Kate Bush has been announced as an ambassador for this year's Record Store Day, on 20 April.

4 Mar 2024

The British Book Awards has announced its shortlist for Independent Bookshop of the Year. 

4 Mar 2024

The ACT is happy to confirm the date for Local Bike Shop Day 2024 as Saturday 4 May, the weekend of the early May Bank Holiday.

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Christmas period

Posted on in Business News , Cycles News , Creative News, Outdoor News

Christmas retail figures suggest the sector was hit with lower footfall and spending amid growing concern over rising costs and uncertainty about Brexit.

shopping centreFigures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) show footfall for UK retailers was down by 3.5% in December, the biggest decline since March 2013, with high streets and shopping centres the hardest hit.

BRC CEO Helen Dickinson says: "Households had to use their money more carefully, researching products online rather than heading out to stores to browse."

Figures from Visa, as part of its UK Consumer Spending Index for December, highlighted the worst year for consumer spending since 2012.

Mark Antipof, chief commercial officer at Visa, commented: "Christmas rounded off a lean year for retailers with consumer spending seeing its first consistent 12 month decline since 2012.

"December's consumer spending figures confirm our earlier prediction that the UK would see its first fall in overall Christmas spending in five years. This result has bucked the trend of the previous four years which saw annual consumer spending rise by an average of 1.7 per cent."

While Visa believes the high street has "suffered" recently, it also noted online spending is holding up.

In a trading statement outlying how his businesses, which include Ryman, Boux Avenue and Robert Dyas, fared over the festive trading period, Theo Paphitis said: "As anticipated and reported, the Christmas trading period, as has been the case for most of this year, was ‘hard work' for many retailers.

"In all my years, I have never seen it so hard and unforgiving where the shopper will punish you if you take your eye off the ball."

Retails including Mothercare, Debenhams and House of Fraser struggled during Christmas, leading to profit warnings and even a move to renegotiate property rental rates.

 

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