NEWS | Round-up


Plan B will be a ‘hammer blow’ to retail footfall, predicts analyst


RETAIL FOOTFALL is likely to be severely hit by the Government’s implementation of its Covid Plan B, says retail analytics specialist Springboard.


Springboard figures show that in central London and regional cities outside the capital, footfall is already 20% lower than in 2019. The report – which was published in mid-December last year – predicted that, because of Plan B, footfall in the run-up to Christmas would plummet by a further third to -50% in central London, and to -30% in regional cities.


Springboard marketing and insights director Diane Wehrle said: “Inevitably, the guidance will impact activity foremost in those locations with the largest number of office-based workers, which are our large city centres – in particular central London, which is already labouring under the pressure of a reduced office population and a lack of international tourism that


is so critical in the run-up to Christmas.” She added: “But it won’t only be daytime footfall from office workers that declines. It will also mean that leisure-based footfall that is so prevalent in the run-up to Christmas will also lessen, as the nervousness of visitors means that trips to cities are deferred or cancelled altogether. In the light of this, we predict that the gap in


Blanco appoints new MD for UK


BLANCO UK has announced that Neal Jones has taken over the role of managing director with immediate effect. Jones (pictured left) has held MD positions at appliance manufacturers Magimix and De’Longhi and before that spent eight years at Brita in sales and marketing roles.


He takes over at the UK arm of sinks and taps specialist the Blanco Group from Simon Hart (pictured right), who took over as MD from Ron Blount in 2016.


Speaking of his appointment, Jones commented: “Our ongoing mission is to delight consumers with beautifully designed and engineered products and services. We know how much consumers enjoy a seamless, well-organised and well-designed sink layout and we will continue to support the inspirational design work done by kitchen retailers using Blanco products in this area of the home.”


footfall from 2019 is likely to widen once again over the next few weeks to -50% in central London and to -30% in cities outside of the capital.” Springboard predicted that because


of Covid nervousness a proportion of retail footfall would be diverted to smaller high streets and retail parks. On a positive note, the analyst said that may mean that footfall for retail


parks, currently 4% below 2019 levels, may improve by 2%.


Springboard said that more shoppers were turning to online for non-food purchases. Currently 22% of non-food spending takes place online. The analyst predicts that Plan B may cause that figure to rise by a third to 30%. Wehrle said: “So where does this leave our stores and destinations during the final stages of the most critical trading period of the year? Well, this clearly represents another hammer blow to an industry that is still trying to recover from a huge loss of trade in 2020.” She


continued: “While many


retailers benefited from a huge uplift in their online sales last year, for the vast majority this was not enough to make up for the loss of store sales. Perhaps the saving grace will have been the concern of many shoppers around the lack of supply, which will have encouraged them to purchase their Christmas gifts earlier.”


Ho ho ho – it’s our Window Competition winner


AFTER WEEKS of KBB retailers posting their festive window displays on social media, the winner if the kbbreview Christmas Window Competition has been revealed.


The standard of entries was extremely high but the


winner, Olympus Bathrooms in Otford, Kent, had a standout display that featured Father Christmas sitting in a copper BC Designs bath (pictured). Kbbreview will donate £500 to a charity of Olympus Bathrooms’ choosing and send a special trophy to the bathroom retailer. The three runners-up will also receive a trophy. We would also like to say a huge thank you to Quooker for sponsoring the competition. The runners-up are The Bath Works in New Milton, Hampshire, Kitchens Bespoke in East Grinstead,


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West Sussex, and Panorama Kitchens in Liverpool. The Bath Works’ entry featured a charming winter scene with a wooden sleigh full of presents. Kitchens Bespoke’s display had the wow factor with its impressive balloon display. And a giant two-storey tree was the eye-catching feature of the Panorama Kitchens entry that made them the final runner-up. KBB retailers from across the UK got involved with the festive competition on social media by tagging @kbbreview and using #xmas21 to enter the competition.


The competition ran for the first-time last year and was won by Burlanes Interiors, with its incredible wooden Christmas tree handmade by joinery apprentice James Prince using offcuts of tulipwood and oak.


· January 2022


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