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Primark takes 1.1 billion pound sales hit from closed stores

Primark has taken a 1.1 billion pound sales hit related to lockdowns for the first half of the year, the fast-fashion retailer’s parent company Associated British Foods (AB Foods) announced Thursday. AB Foods said Primark’s performance in the 24 weeks to February 27 was “materially impacted” by lockdown restrictions across the UK and Europe, but...

25 Feb 2021

Retail

Non-essential stores in England set to reopen in April

Non-essential retailers in England will reopen in April as part of the country’s “cautious” plan to exit lockdown, prime minister Boris Johnson announced Monday afternoon. Speaking to MPs at the House of Commons, Johnson set out a four-step plan to ease lockdown restrictions in the coming months. In the first stage, students will return to...

22 Feb 2021

Business

England: PM to announce ‘cautious’ roadmap out of lockdown

Boris Johnson will later today outline a much-awaited roadmap to easing lockdown restrictions in England over the coming months. The roadmap will be a “cautious” reopening of the country in several stages. Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi told BBC Breakfast that the first stage will be split into two parts: From 8 March, all students will return...

22 Feb 2021

Retail

Northern Ireland extends lockdown to April

Northern Ireland’s lockdown has been extended again in an effort to drive down Covid cases, this time until 1 April. It’s more bad news for non-essential retailers who have been closed since the end of trading on Christmas Eve as part of what was then planned to be a six-week lockdown, but was last month extended until March. The country’s first...

22 Feb 2021

Business

Ted Baker Q4 sales fall, warns of 5 million pound Brexit hit

Ted Baker has reported a 47 percent dive in Q4 revenue linked to store closures during the UK’s third lockdown. The British fashion retailer said a fall in footfall when its stores were temporarily open and a drop in demand for outerwear and occasionwear during the Christmas period also took a toll on sales. For the quarter ended 30 January,...

11 Feb 2021

Retail

Ireland extends lockdown until March

Non-essential retailers in the Republic of Ireland will be shut until at least March as the country extends its lockdown. The current Level 5 restrictions have been extended until 5 March, prime minister Micheal Martin announced at a press conference, though he didn't rule out the possibility of extending it further. Martin said that while cases...

27 Jan 2021

Retail

Northern Ireland extends lockdown to March

Northern Ireland’s first minister Arlene Foster has announced that the country’s lockdown will be extended until 5 March in an effort to drive down Covid cases. Non-essential stores have been closed since the end of trading on Christmas Eve as part of what was then planned to be a six-week lockdown. But that has now been extended to March due to...

22 Jan 2021

Business

Matalan reports drop in Q3 sales as lockdown takes toll

Matalan has reported a drop in revenue for the third quarter of the year as lockdowns took their toll on the company’s in-store sales. For the 13 weeks to 28 November 2020, total revenue at the omnichannel fashion and homeware retailer dropped 21.5 percent to 244.8 million pounds. That drop reflected “the severe Covid-19 related disruption to...

19 Jan 2021

Business

UK economy shrank 2.6 percent during November lockdowns

The UK’s economy shrank by as much as 2.6 percent in November as the nation’s industries were hit hard by yet more lockdowns. According to The Office for National Statistics (ONS), November GDP fell back to 8.5 percent below the pre-pandemic levels seen in February 2020 compared with 6.1 percent below in October 2020. GDP fell by 8.9 percent in...

15 Jan 2021

Business

Primark takes 540 million pound sales hit from lockdowns

Primark has taken a 540 million pound sales hit related to lockdowns, the fast-fashion retailer’s parent company Associated British Foods (AB Foods) announced Thursday. The company said that number could reach 1.05 billion pounds if all of Primark's closed stores remain closed until 27 February 2021, the financial half-year. For the 16 weeks to...

14 Jan 2021

Business

Marks & Spencer Christmas sales slump, clothing hit by store closures

Marks & Spencer has reported a slump in sales for the typically busy Christmas period, driven by significant drops in its clothing and homeware departments. For the 13 Weeks to 26 December, group Q3 sales dropped 8.4 percent to 2.77 billion pounds. UK sales fell 8.2 percent, or 7.6 percent on a like-for-like basis, to 2.53 billion pounds, while...

8 Jan 2021

Retail

UK announces 4.6 billion pound support package for businesses

UK chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a new 4.6 billion pound Covid relief package that will see businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors receive a one-off grant of up to 9,000 pounds. The new lockdown grants, which alone are worth 4 billion pounds, will be provided on a per-property basis and are expected to benefit over...

5 Jan 2021