Business News
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas for the retail sector
There’s no doubt that Christmas is the most important trading period for retailers, but this year it follows months of bad news for the sector, with a number of leading high-street names either closing stores and slashing jobs or going out of business altogether. However, according to a new survey by insolvency and restructuring body R3, as we go into Christmas, there are signs that the West Midlands retail sector is rallying. R3’s research shows a widespread decrease in the proportion of local businesses at risk of insolvency, plus an increase in store numbers. With this in mind, Chamberlink’s Philip Parkin takes a look at how new Chamber 1813 members Birmingham Wholesale Market (BWM) and several key retailers in Birmingham and Solihull are preparing for Christmas and how they aim to keep the tills ringing merrily over the next few weeks.
workforce of Birmingham Wholesale Markets, who will be supplying some 5,000 independent retailers, restaurants and hospitality businesses with the fresh produce they will be selling onwards for Christmas. The market will be providing the
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retailers with all the fish, meat and poultry, and horticultural produce that they will need for the festive season. This will come from a range of
sources – the UK supplies 30 per cent of its fresh produce, and European countries provide 40 per cent. The remainder comes from elsewhere in the world. The markets buy in a wide range of
goods, including 33 categories of fruit and 28 different vegetable varieties. Eddie Price, director of Birmingham Wholesale Markets, said: “The Birmingham Wholesale Market is essential to the West Midlands economy providing the rapidly growing hospitality sector access to all their fresh produce needs under one roof. “Equally important is that it
provides the independent retailers and public markets with a supply chain that enables them to offer low cost fresh produce to their customers. The Birmingham Wholesale Market has an increasingly important role in supporting all its customers to respond positively to the significant disruptive influences and economic uncertainty impacting on the fresh produce supply chain.” With regard to Christmas
planning, Mr Price said that there was an element of continuity from one year to the next, and added: “Many suppliers to the traders have relationships that stretch back
t’s the most wonderful time of the year – and among those making it so are the tenants and
father/son for several generations and are the pre-booked year-to-year. “Contrast this with flowers
purchased via online auction from the Dutch Flower market and are in Birmingham the next day. “The big trend and one of
growing importance is the move to plant-based food and the Birmingham Wholesale Market is the place for those who wish to pursue this lifestyle. “It has the widest display of
produce some not available on the high-street outside London and the tenants like nothing more than explaining the origin and use of some of the more exotic produce.” Away from the markets, key
retailers in Birmingham and Solihull who are gearing up for Christmas include John Lewis in the city centre, a trader linked indelibly to the festive season by its famous television adverts. Lisa Williams, head of branch,
said: “Christmas is a time when customer expectations are at their highest and the pressure is on every single retailer to not just meet but exceed those expectations. “Here at John Lewis & Partners,
Christmas 2019 is more important to us than ever before. In the past 12 months the retail landscape has changed dramatically, as competitors race to deliver the perfect combination of convenience, experience and value. “At John Lewis Birmingham, it’s
all about getting the shop looking and feeling its very best, so that customers have a compelling reason to actively choose the shop rather than buying online. “Christmas for us is planned
more than 12 months ahead, and the buying teams are already working on the products our customers will be buying in Christmas 2020.
6 CHAMBERLINK December 2019/January 2020
As part of John Lewis’ run-up to Christmas, Harry the therapy dog visited the store to take part in a storytelling session with children. Therapy Dogs is a national charity and the volunteers take their dogs into a variety of establishments to give comfort, stimulation and distraction. Harry is pictured with Therapy Dogs volunteer Jane Neary
Christmas at John Lewis
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