Cost Pressures

Apr- 2025 -

2 April

Retailers refrain from price rises in March

Retailers did not resort to price rises throughout March, according to the latest BRC-NIQ Shop Price Index, despite rising cost pressures. It comes as high street retailers are competing for reluctant shoppers, who are more likely to be pulled in with seasonal promotions. Mike Watkins, head of retailer and business…

Apr- 2023 -

11 April

Business

UK retail up 5.1% in March

Total retail sales in the UK were up 5.1% in March according to data from the British Retail Consortium and KPMG. This is above the three-month average growth of 4.8% and the 12-month average growth of 2.6% for the five weeks between 26 February and 1 April. Like-for-like retail sales…

Jun- 2022 -

7 June

Industry News

Bank holiday boosts May footfall

Footfall strengthened in May to -13.7% below 2019, up from -15.9% in April 2022, according to the latest figures from Springboard, however it warned the results still “belie the underlying cost pressures that are starting to reveal themselves”. It found footfall declined by -16.4% in high streets, -17.8% in shopping…

Feb- 2022 -

3 February

Economy

Energy price cap to rise 54% from April

Retail bosses are braced for a spending squeeze after it was revealed the energy price cap is set to increase by 54% from 1 April amid a “record” increase in global gas prices, in a move that is set to affect approximately 22 million customers. Energy regulator Ofgem announced that…

Jan- 2022 -

5 January

Retailing

Price rises to pick up momentum in 2022

Shop price annual inflation accelerated to 0.8% in December, up from 0.3% in November with prices set to rise in the new year, according to a latest study from the BRC. The increase of 0.3% is above the 12 and six month average price decreases of 0.9% and 0.3%, respectively.…

Apr- 2021 -

28 April

Economy

Shop prices fall in April as non-essential retailers reopen

UK shop prices continued to drop in April as non-essential retailers reopened after lockdown, according to the BRC-Nielsen shop price index. In order to entice consumers, retailers decreased shop prices by 1.3% over the period, compared to the previous drop of 2.4% in March. However, the fall in non-food prices…

Nov- 2018 -

27 November

Retailers

Pets at Home suffers 80 percent drop in pre-tax profits

Pet retailer Pets at Home has reported an 80.5 percent drop in pre-tax profits from £40.8m to £8m in its financial results for the 28 weeks from 30 March to 11 October 2018. The company attributed its performance to “increasing cost pressures” faced by its veterinary business. The company said…

Jul- 2018 -

25 July

Business

BRC welcomes ‘much needed’ review into card-acquiring services

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has welcomed news that the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) will carry out a market review into card-acquiring services due to an “alarming increase in card fees and charges”. Andrew Cregan, policy adviser at the BRC has welcomed the review, and said it comes at a…

Jan- 2018 -

9 January

Current Affairs

Retail administrations increase in five-year-first

The number of retailers entering administration increased from 92 in 2016 to 118 in 2017, an increase of 28 percent, according to new analysis from Deloitte. This is the first increase in the last five years, as those administrations with more than ten stores rose from 11 in 2016…

Dec- 2017 -

21 December

Current Affairs

Private sector growth shows acceleration

Private sector growth has shown accelerated growth in the three months till December, according to the latest CBI Growth Indicator. Based on 642 respondents across the distribution, manufacturing and service sectors showed the balance of firms reporting a rise in output at +19 percent, compared with +6 percent in the…