NEWS


June/July 2026 housewareslive.net


M&S unveils revamped Oxford Street Pantheon flagship


M


arks & Spencer has officially reopened its transformed Pantheon flagship on London’s


Oxford Street, unveiling a 100,000 sq ft store that will serve as a blueprint for future full-line stores across its estate.


The four-storey flagship offers an expanded fashion, home, beauty and food proposition, with the retailer using the site as a research and development store to trial new layouts, merchandising and customer experiences before rolling out successful concepts elsewhere. Work on the flagship began in


April 2025, with the store remaining open throughout the refurbishment. The foodhall reopened last summer, followed by the womenswear and beauty departments earlier this year. The final phase, including menswear, childrenswear, lingerie and home, opened on July 13. New features include an expanded home department, a bespoke menswear suiting offer, dedicated lingerie and babywear areas, an


enlarged beauty hall featuring third- party brands and a curated home collection created in partnership with British interior designer Kelly Hoppen. Digital screens providing outfit inspiration, enhanced click-and- collect facilities and upgraded payment services have also been introduced. Stuart Machin, chief executive of


Marks & Spencer, said the Pantheon store represented the retailer’s first full- line flagship developed as a research and development concept for fashion, home and beauty. He said the store would help M&S


test new ways of making shopping “easier, more curated and more inspiring”, adding that it was “a big step forward” in the retailer’s wider programme to modernise its estate. The opening forms part of M&S’s


£500 million store rotation programme, announced in 2023, which aims to reshape its portfolio into 420 food halls and 180 full-line stores. It also comes as the retailer prepares to celebrate 100 years in fashion with its debut show at London Fashion Week in September.


Debenhams marketplace strategy drives continued sales growth


D


ebenhams Group has reported continued sales growth as its marketplace strategy gains momentum, with the retailer saying trading remained positive through June


and July.


The online retailer said gross merchandise value (GMV) continued to grow year on year after returning to growth in the first quarter, supported by improved sales margins and lower customer returns. Chief Executive Dan Finley said the group’s marketplace model and broader product assortment had enabled it to respond quickly to changing consumer demand, with recent hot weather boosting sales across seasonal categories. The strategy has seen Debenhams expand beyond its


traditional fashion roots, growing its offer across home, beauty and lifestyle categories through third-party marketplace partners. The group also reported progress within its Young Fashion division, with PrettyLittleThing returning to growth and profitability.


Debenhams said it expects net debt to fall significantly this


year, driven by stronger trading and the sale of remaining non- core property assets. The retailer also reiterated its ambition to grow Debenhams into a multi-billion-pound GMV business capable of generating more than £100 million in EBITDA over the medium term. Since rebranding from Boohoo Group to Debenhams Group in 2025, the business has focused on expanding its marketplace model while broadening its product offering beyond fashion into categories including homewares and electricals.


TRA launches review of anti-dumping duties on Chinese ceramic tableware T


he Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) has launched an interim review of the UK’s anti-dumping measures on


ceramic tableware and kitchenware imported from China following evidence that existing duties may no longer be providing sufficient protection for UK manufacturers. The review will assess whether current anti- dumping duties, which range from 13% to 36%, should be amended after the TRA identified continued dumping of Chinese products alongside rising import volumes and falling prices.


According to the TRA, imports of Chinese


ceramic tableware and kitchenware increased by 22% between 2023 and 2025, despite the duties already in place. During the same period, the unit value of imports fell by as much as 35%, raising concerns over the competitiveness of UK producers.


The authority said the review would determine whether the existing measures continue to offset the effects of dumped imports that are causing injury to UK industry and whether changes to the current duties are required. Jessica Blakely and Carmen Suarez, co-chief


executives of the TRA, said the investigation reflected the organisation’s commitment to responding quickly to changing market conditions and supporting “a more accessible, assertive and agile trade remedies system”. Businesses affected by the review can register their interest with the TRA until August 4 2026 and are invited to attend an online information


session on July 24 to learn more about the investigation. The review is being conducted as an interim review, a process used to determine whether existing anti-dumping measures should be amended or revoked following a significant change in market conditions.


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