industry market roundup
BRC reports strong start to year for retail
On a total basis, sales were up 3.3%, against a 1.6% rise in January 2015. This is the best growth since September, firmly ahead of the 3-month average of 1.6% and the 12- month average of 1.9%. Adjusted for the BRC-Nielsen Shop Price Index deflation, total growth was 5.1%. Helen Dickinson OBE, chief executive, British Retail
U
Consortium, said: "Following on from a somewhat disappointing Christmas period for retailers, the new year kicked off to a strong start. Retailers will welcome the positive start to what will be a momentous year for the industry. Next month the Treasury will report back on its long awaited review of the business rates system. This is the moment for the government to rebalance this tax away from property intensive industries in order to ensure that the introduction of the living wage does not have unintended consequences on our local communities and jobs ." David McCorquodale, UK head of Retail, KPMG, said:
"Fashion and the home drove retail sales to beat the January blues, up 2.6 per cent in the month on a like-for- like basis. After a slow start to the Autumn/Winter season, fashion and footwear sales soared in the early half of the month as promotional pricing caught the eye.” Source: British Retail Consortium
K retail sales rose by 2.6% on a like-for-like basis from January 2015, when they had increased 0.2% from the preceding year.
New report suggests measures to rejuvenate high street
T
he Town Centre Investment Zones report, recently launched by a group of property industry experts, demonstrates that asset management of the high street could unlock much-needed investment for local
authorities and communities to transform their areas. The report, carried out by Peter Brett Associates with Bond Dickinson and Citi
Centric, suggests that Town Centre Investment Management (TCIM), which involves the pooling of a critical mass of property assets into an investment vehicle, will allow the assets to be managed and curated, rejuvenating the high street. “The absence of any well-established methodology for bringing together, under single asset management, the fragmented ownership of properties in town centres is one of the causes of their failure and underperformance,” stated the report. “Our investigation, using the three pilot study towns and the case studies, has shown that this form of asset management (TCIM) could lead to more effective adaptation, thus delivering improved occupiers, a better response to change and consequently improved performance and an enhanced customer experience.” Liz Peace, chair of the Fragmented Ownership Steering Group, said: “Town centres can and should be a vital social centre for communities. They can be an engine for economic growth through the encouragement and empowerment of new local businesses. All of this suggests that we need to be looking for fundamental structural change in our town centres: they need to be about more than retail and they need to be helped to adapt to this fundamental change in role.”
Enterprise Act plans to extend Sunday trading hours
green light to go head to head with online retailers with new powers to allow local councils to extend Sunday trading hours. The government introduced amendments to the Enterprise Bill on 9 February 2016 to hand local authorities the power to extend Sunday opening hours. Business Minister Anna Soubry commented: "Extending Sunday
E
xpected to go ahead from autumn 2016, local high streets will be given the
shopping hours has the potential to help businesses and high streets better compete as our shopping habits change. "The rights of shop workers are
key to making these changes work in everyone's interests. We are protecting those who do not wish to work Sundays, and those who do not want to work more than their normal Sunday working hours." The plans are supported by
councils, leading retailers, and business leaders.
SGB-SPORTS.COM | 27
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36