Morrisons extends wholesale partnership with McColl's
Morrisons has extended its wholesale partnership with convenience store retailer McColl’s as part of an agreement to convert more of its stores to the Morrisons Daily format. The partnership will continue for another three years and Morrisons will now be McColl’s only wholesale supplier until 2027. A total of 300 McColl’s branches will be converted to the Morrisons Daily format during the period. The new stores will offer a full Morrisons convenience range while being owned and operated by McColl’s. The roll-out comes as 30 McColl’s stores were converted in recent months, which have ”consistently delivered the strongest like-for-like sales performance within the McColl’s estate”. Morrisons supplies around 1200 McColl’s stores, including 230 of its biggest branches which have been added in the last few weeks. “Today’s agreement is another example of Morrisons extending the reach of our popular brand,” Morrisons chief executive David Potts said. “In doing so, we are building a broader, stronger Morrisons for customers, and leveraging our existing assets to achieve capital light, profitable growth. “We are delighted to be further expanding our successful partnership with McColl’s and look forward to growing together for many years to come.” McColl’s chief executive Jonathan Miller said: ”I am delighted to extend our partnership with Morrisons, ensuring the continued supply of a supermarket-quality offer across our entire estate, as well as the planned conversion of additional Morrisons Daily stores. “In Morrisons we retain a long-term partner with best-in-class sourcing and manufacturing capabilities and a leading convenience offer for the local neighbourhood communities we serve across the country.”
John Lewis plots hundreds of shop-in-shops in Waitrose
John Lewis has reportedly set out plans to launch hundreds of shop-in-shops inside Waitrose stores. The department store chain is also plotting a smaller “local” format as part of a radical overhaul of its portfolio. John Lewis Partnership chair Dame Sharon White said she wants most of Waitrose’s 331 stores to contain a John Lewis implant within the next 12 to 18 months, The Times reported. John Lewis launched its fifth shop-in-shop inside a Waitrose at the grocer’s Wallingford branch during February. However, White said she plans to roll out the format across the country as the company reshapes its store estate. White’s plans for a smaller “local” format is inspired by a similar move by Nordstrom in the US. It comes as John Lewis plans to shutter as many as eight more department stores, which are likely to be unveiled alongside the Partnership’s full-year results on March 11. In total, the closures could reduce John Lewis’s estate by a third to 34 outlets and result in more than 2000 job losses. The shop-in-shops will help reduce property costs, enable cross-selling and offer a wide-range of general merchandise online. With two-thirds of John Lewis’s £4.8 billion annual sales expected to go online by 2025, White is working on re-establishing the retailer’s position in the digital market.
Morrisons acquires Cornish seafood supplier Falfish
Morrisons has acquired Cornish seafood supplier Falfish, which has supplied the Big 4 retailer for 16 years, for an undisclosed sum. The Bradford-based Morrisons said the deal meant it has now become the first UK supermarket to own its own fishing boat. It also marks the latest move by Morrisons to own parts of its supply chain, with more than 80 per cent of its fish and shellfish now due to come through its wholly-owned supply chain. Falfish, which operates from two sites in Redruth and Falmouth docks, secured around 50 per cent of its annual £40 million turnover from Morrisons. Morrisons said the move also reinforces its commitment for sustainable seafood and fish. It comes after rivals Sainsbury’s and Tesco reduced their numbers of fresh fish and meat counters, with the retailers saying this was driven by a change in customer demand. “Falfish is a great fit with Morrisons; not only is it a great British company supplying high quality fish and shellfish, but they also share our passion for sustainability and for local sourcing,” Morrisons manufacturing director Andrew Thornber said. “Bringing Falfish into Morrisons further strengthens our position as Britain’s biggest foodmaker. “Our manufacturing operations employ around 9000 people at 19 sites throughout Britain, providing around 25 per cent of everything that Morrisons sells.” Falfish’s 140 staff will transfer to Morrisons, the retailer said. Falfish managing director Mark Greet said: “Falfish has been a supplier to Morrisons since 2004 and over the years this has become a very strong partnership. “For my father Ian and our family, as part of the Cornish community, this acquisition ensures the continuing ethos of Falfish in upholding our relationships and values, and strengthens this for our colleagues, for the South West fishing fleet, and for all of our customers and stakeholders. “The acquisition is great news for Falfish’s Cornish operations and the wider community, bringing investment and access to many new opportunities.”
Halfords profits set to double on back of surging bike sales
Bosses at Halfords believe they will manage to double profits after bike sales soared among stuck-at-home Brits. The retailer said it expected pre-tax profits for the year ending in April would hit between £90 million and £100 million, up from £52.6 million a year earlier. Before the announcement, analysts had expected a figure of around £70.2 million, according to a company-provided consensus. The figures are the first Halfords has provided for the current financial crisis after it stopped guiding due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Less than two months ago it had said it would “not be appropriate” to give profits guidance at the moment. Many retailerts have withdrawn their guidance due to the pandemic, and Halfords acknowledged that its range was wide. “Although only six weeks remain of the 2021 financial year, the expected profit range remains quite broad as trading patterns continue to be volatile, with sales ahead of Easter particularly difficult to predict whilst the UK remains in lockdown,” Halfords said in a statement. “As the country starts to open up once more, our overriding priority remains the health and safety of our colleagues and customers.” Halfords has continued to see volatility in the last seven weeks since its third quarter ended, but trading has been better than anticipated. Bike sales remain high, with sales at its cycling business up 43 per cent during the period compared with last year, on a like-for-like basis. Halfords said a 14 per cent decline in motoring sales was better than traffic levels would suggest as there has been a 40 per cent drop in car journeys. However, sales of bulbs, batteries and general maintenance products have remained good, the business said. “Although we have continued to experience a volatile trading environment across the first seven weeks of the fourth quarter, overall trading has been stronger than we initially anticipated across the business,” Halfords said. Full-year results will be announced on June 17.
Brits spend £15.2bn extra on groceries over past year
Brits spent £15.2 billion more on groceries during the pandemic as various restrictions over the past year forced the closure of bars, pubs and restaurants, new figures show. Kantar grocery data revealed each household has spent around £4800 in supermarkets over the past 12 months since the Covid-19 crisis struck – £500 more than in pre-pandemic times. Supermarkets have seen trade boom amid the pandemic as they have been allowed to remain open, where other non-essential retailers and hospitality have been forced to close for the majority of the past year due to the crisis. The figures reveal supermarket sales rose by 12.5 per cent in the 12 weeks to February 21 and growth ramped up to 15.1 per cent over the past month in the fastest rate since June 2020. Tesco emerged as one of the winners of the quarter, notching up its first market share growth since December 2016 – at 27.4 per cent, up from 27.3 per cent a year ago as its sales rose 13.2 per cent. The data revealed online grocery sales reached another new record share in the four weeks to February 21, accounting for 15.4 per cent of sales, up from 8.7 per cent last year, according to Kantar. It said nearly a quarter of households bought groceries online during the past month as many customers have switched to shopping from home. “The pandemic has now been making its mark on our lives and completely changing the way we shop for a full year,” Kantar head of retail insight Fraser McKevitt said. “Various hospitality restrictions mean that we’ve eaten an extra seven billion meals at home since spring 2020. “Office tea rounds, meanwhile, were replaced by brews in our own kitchens and we drank an additional two billion cups of tea in the house this year.” However, he added that grocery chains would start to see a drop-off in year-on-year sales growth rates following the anniversary of the first national lockdown next month. “Sales will be measured against last year’s record spending and comparisons will be tough against the heights of 2020,” McKevitt said. “Demand for groceries is also likely to subside as the hospitality sector reopens.” Kantar’s figures also showed Brits made the most of last month’s Valentine’s Day and Shrove Tuesday celebrations despite lockdown. It found 3.8 million households bought boxes of chocolates in the week running up to February 14 – a rise of 18 per cent – while pancake day drove a 50 per cent jump in sales of flour and chocolate spreads and an 86% surge for syrups. The market share data showed that Tesco was joined by Big 4 rival Morrisons in enjoying a bumper past quarter, with its sales up 13.9 per cent and market share increasing to 10.3 per cent from 10.2 per cent a year earlier. Sainsbury’s notched up 12.1 per cent growth and held its share firm at 15.6 per cent, but Asda was the weakest of the major chains with its share falling to 14.8 per cent from 15.1 per cent year-on-year despite sales growth of 10.3 per cent. Iceland’s market share increased by 0.3 percentage points to 2.5 per cent and its sales rose by 23.9 per cent.
Rymans threatens to withhold rent until non-essential retail opens
Ryman has reportedly threatened to withhold rent from landlords until non-essential retailers are allowed to reopen. The stationery retailer, which is owned by Dragons’ Den businessman Theo Paphitis, is currently embroiled in a row with landlords over unpaid rent, The Telegraph reported. Theo Paphitis Retail Group, which also owns lingerie firm Boux Avenue and hardware retailer Robert Dyas, wrote to some of Ryman’s landlords to tell them it would be withholding rent. Non-essential retailers have been forced to remain shut since the third national lockdown began last month and have been told they could reopen on April 12 at the earliest under the government’s new roadmap. Ryman has demanded that one landlord compensate itself for the loss of rent by claiming for it under its insurance policy. However, lawyers for the landlord argued that the insurance policy was not in place to account for any rent lost in the event a tenant chooses to stop paying. Paphitis restarted talks with landlords for Boux Avenue last June after being forced to put negotiations on hold. Meanwhile, Ryman is also said to have been in talks with landlords over switching its lease arrangements to a turnover-based model. Commercial tenants unable to pay their rent during lockdown are protected by a government ban that prevents landlords from taking debt enforcement action.
Dobbies bucks retail trend as sales reach £252m amid lockdown
Dobbies Garden Centres has reported a sales rise of 51 per cent to £252 million in the 53 weeks to March 1, 2020. On a like-for-like basis, sales increased by six per cent during the period. The group also increased its underlying EBITDA by 39 per cent to £25 million. “We have a clear strategy for growth at Dobbies and we are encouraged by the progress made during FY19/20,” Dobbies chairman Andrew Bracey said. “The business has continued to demonstrate its resilience as we navigate the challenges of Covid-19.” During the period, the group acquired 31 new stores. It now has 69 garden centres nationwide, the largest of which is in Morpeth. Dobbies chief executive Graeme Jenkins said: “During FY19/20, Dobbies delivered a robust performance through a period of significant change. “I would like to thank all of our team members for their support and commitment. In line with our strategy, we are continuing to grow and invest in Dobbies. This includes in our garden centre network, our customer offer and our team.”
JD sports in pole position to acquire Arcadia warehouse
JD Sports has announced it is currently in pole position to acquire Arcadia Group’s distribution centre in Daventry, Northants. The warehouse has a rateable value of £3.08 million with current business rates liabilities of £1.6 million per annum. JD Sports is poised to pick up a consolation prize by buying Arcadia’s remaining logistics asset for more than £60 million, after being among the unsuccessful bidders for Topshop and Topman – which were sold to Asos last month by Deloitte. Shortly after, Boohoo Group agreed to buy Arcadia’s remaining brands, Burton, Dorothy Perkins, and Wallis for £25.2 million. Boohoo Group, Amazon and Ebay had all expressed an interest in buying the warehouse in recent weeks. A deal for JD Sports is yet to be concluded. The potential £60 million deal would trigger the repayment of a £50 million loan to Arcadia made by Sir Philip Green’s family last year, and secured against the Daventry site. Arcadia’s only other remaining asset is the lease on its Topshop Oxford Circus flagship store, which is undergoing a sale process run by KPMG.
1150 jobs at risk as Sainsbury's unveils restructure proposals
Around 1150 jobs are at risk at Sainsbury’s as part of a restructuring which will cut about 500 head-office roles, reduce office space and shut down one of its warehouses. The Big 4 grocer said the proposals, which are subject to consultation, were aimed at freeing up money reinvest a new “Food First” strategy. Sainsbury’s confirmed that the 500 job cuts will affect head office staff across commercial operations, HR, supply chain and logistics, technology, general merchandise and clothing functions. The head office in question, location in Holborn in central London, will also have its space reduced by two floors. Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s said it would close down its online fulfilment centre in Bromley-by-Bow, east London – a move that places 650 staff into consultation. The retailer said that it would try and redeploy most of the warehouse’s affected staff to nearby stores to assist with online pick-and-pack services as part of plans that will see over 20 stores in and around London have their online departments expanded by March 2022. The food lab and bakery college, currently based at Sainsbury’s Bromley-by-Bow warehouse, will also move to nearby locations. In addition, Sainsbury’s said it would close down its Walsgrave, Coventry and London Origin offices, partially close its Beech office in Antsy, and reduce office space in Avebury, Milton Keynes and Manchester. The retailer said staff based in these offices would be relocated to existing Sainsbury’s offices which are being “adapted to create more collaborative workspaces” and “encourage greater flexibility” once offices can welcome staff back once it’s safe to do so after the Covid-19 pandemic. “Our new plan puts food first and will create a simpler, nimbler and more efficient business,” Sainsbury’s chief executive Roberts said. “The money we save will enable us to invest in what customers really care about – lower prices, exciting new products and the most convenient ways for them to shop. “I know change is difficult, but to do the best job we can for our customers, it is vital that we adapt. “I understand this will be a very difficult time for affected colleagues and we will do everything we can to fully support them.” He added: “Thanks to the tremendous efforts of our colleagues, we have doubled our online capacity since this time last year and we can now serve over 850,000 customer orders every week. “As customer demand changes, we need to be able to adapt quickly. Our investment in London stores will enable more customers in the capital to access more home delivery and click-and-collect slots, as well as a variety of great value delivery options, such as four-hour saver slots for just £1.” The news comes a week after rival Asda announced consultations with around 5000 staff amid its own major shake-up of office operations.
Contactless payment limit increase to £100
The contactless payment limit is to more than double to £100. The changes, being set out in the Chancellor’s Budget later today, will see the legal single contactless payment limit raised from £45 to £100. While legally in force from today, the increase will not happen immediately, as retailers and other businesses will need to make systems changes. The banking industry will implement the new £100 limit later this year. The UK Government said the increase has been made possible by the UK’s exit from the EU, which means it is no longer bound by EU rules on the maximum limit for contactless payment, which is currently set at £45. “Tap and go” contactless cards initially had a limit of £10 in 2007, and this was increased to £15 in 2010, £20 in 2012 and £30 in 2015. The limit was raised to £45 last April, in the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic to help minimise contact from cash in hand. “As we begin to open the UK economy and people return to the high street, the contactless limit increase will make it easier than ever before for people to pay for their shopping, providing a welcome boost to retail that will protect jobs and drive growth across the capital,” Chancellor Rishi Sunak said. The announcement could further accelerate the decline of physical cash use, with banknotes and coins already having been shunned during the pandemic. A Bank of England study last year indicated that the risk of catching Covid from banknotes is low. The government has pledged to legislate to protect the future of cash. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) held a public consultation on contactless limits and recommended the change. Eight out of 10 UK adults used contactless payments in 2019, and the increase in contactless limits will mean millions of payments will now be made simpler, the government said.
The Post Office enters landmark click & collect partnership with Amazon
The Post Office has partnered with Amazon to launch a new click & collect trial allowing customers to collect online orders from their local branch.
Amazon has now become the Post Office’s first official third-party partnership after its historic exclusivity deal with Royal Mail comes to an end, The Grocer revealed.
According to a letter sent to postmasters participating in the trial, which includes 200 branches in Edinburgh, Newcastle and Preston, customers will now be able to collect their Amazon orders at their local Post Office.
Postmasters are understood to have received smartphones designed to scan Amazon packages as they arrive, allowing customers to simply present a pickup code before collecting their parcel.
“We are excited for you to join us on this new venture in partnership with Amazon,” the letter, seen by The Grocer, read.
“We’re sure you will appreciate the significance of this and what a great opportunity it can be.”
In December Royal Mail, the UK’s largest parcel delivery company which handles over a billion packages every year, announced that it had signed its first ever “non-exclusivity” deal with the Post Office.
According to the Post Office, which is still state-owned, this new agreement “allows us to work with other third parties, marking an important milestone.”
Sainsbury's to forgo business rates relief even after extension granted
Sainsbury’s has announced it would not take advantage of the business rates holiday extension in England after the Chancellor announced it in yesterday’s budget. In a statement, the Big 4 grocer – which has been allowed to remain open throughout lockdowns due to its “essential” status – said it welcomed the extension but decided to “forgo the business rates relief on all Sainsbury’s stores again this year”. “We will also forgo the business rates relief on all standalone Argos stores once they re-open,” the retailer added. Retail Gazette has contacted Sainsbury’s to clarify whether it would also forgo business rates extensions from across its estate in Wales and Scotland, where the respective devolved governments have announced a 12-month extension on the rates relief. In England, retail, hospitality and leisure high street premises will enjoy a business rates holiday extension until the end of June, after which a two-thirds discount will be implemented for the remainder of the tax year. Last December, Sainsbury’s was among the flurry of grocers that announced it would pay back the business rates relief it benefited from in the current tax year. At £440 million, its repayment was the second-highest of the retailers that come forward to hand over the relief back to the government. “Despite significant ongoing costs associated with protecting colleagues and customers from Covid-19, we expect that the vast majority of Sainsbury’s stores will remain open this year,” the grocery giant said. It added: “We look forward to broader conversation and consultation with government on over-arching business rates reform and a review of business taxation in the round. “We believe fundamentally that business rates are an outdated and unfair burden on retailers with physical stores and need to be permanently reduced. “When we reiterated profit guidance in January for the financial year to March 2022, this included the expectation that we would pay business rates for all Sainsbury’s and Argos stores.”
B&M sales driven by customers stockpiling
B&M has reported that its revenues have have remained strong in its fourth quarter to date, particularly in its UK business. The discount retailer saw revenue rise by 22.5 per cent on a constant currency basis in its third quarter in January. Due to the continued strong trading, the group now expects its adjusted EBITDA for the year to March 27, 2021 to be in the range of £590 million to £620 million, after the voluntary payment of business rates amounted to around £80 million. This compares to the previous range announced on January 7 of £540 million to £570 million. “Group sales will shortly annualise against the elevated sales, driven initially by consumer stockpiling in mid-March 2020, and which continued throughout FY21 due to the ongoing impacts of Covid-19,” B&M said. “This, together with the unknown impact of changes to restrictions in 2021, creates significant forecasting challenges which will persist well into the new financial year. “Group sales will shortly annualise against the elevated sales, driven initially by consumer stockpiling in mid-March 2020, and which continued throughout FY21 due to the ongoing impacts of Covid-19. “This, together with the unknown impact of changes to restrictions in 2021, creates significant forecasting challenges which will persist well into the new financial year.”
Morrisons likely to drop out of FTSE100
Morrisons is reportedly expected to drop out of the FTSE 100 for the first time in five years as post-Covid grocery sales will likely slow down. The quarterly reshuffle of the UK’s blue-chip stocks index is likely to result in the supermarket chain being relegated to the FTSE 250. Meanwhile, the newly listed footwear retailer Dr Martens is expected to make an entry into the mid-cap 250 rankings, The Guardian reported. The Big 4 grocer is expected to be replaced by engineering company Weir Group. Dr Martens will become one of the largest FTSE 250 members. The company – which is identified with a “DOCS” ticker since it listed in late January – was worth £4.82 billion on Tuesday. Dr Martens narrowly missed out on inclusion on the FTSE 100, after Renishaw’s share price surged on Tuesday when the engineering company in effect put itself up for sale.
Amazon officially opens first Fresh store in the UK offering its pioneering "just walk out" tech
Amazon has officially opened the doors to its first physical store in the UK offering shoppers its flagship “just walk out shopping” system.
Amazon Fresh, the online giant’s first physical grocery store outside of the US, has now opened its doors to the public in Ealing, London, and utilises the same AI-powered technology as its Go stores.
The 2500sq ft store uses “computer vision, deep learning algorithms and sensor fusion” to automatically detect any items a customer puts in their shopping basket or returns to the shelf.
This allows shoppers to sign in via their Amazon account when entering the store, select their items then simply walk out, paying for items automatically via their accounts when they exit.
Until now this technology has only been available in its smaller Go stores in the US, not its larger Amazon Fresh format which utilises smart ‘Dash Carts’ instead of computer vision to detect items automatically.
The store will stock a selection of its brand new private food brands “by Amazon”, featuring hundreds of products including everyday essentials, fresh fruit and veg, a fresh bakery selection and pre-prepared meals.
A selection of hot food will also be offered throughout the day, offering on-the-go meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Being one of the few stores to be opened during lockdown, Amazon has introduced a range of safety measures, including limiting capacity to 20 and offering PPE to customers at the entrance.
“Amazon Go is an amazing showcase for Amazon’s technology and their ability to disrupt a space with different thinking,” Publicis Sapient’s director of retail Andy Halliwell said.
“The use of cameras and AI to track users purchases is really unique, and the use of automation for the back office of the store is also an interesting way of trying to drive operational profitability.
“The timing for the launch of this new London store, amidst a global pandemic, is near perfect. There has been a wave of investment in touchless technologies over the last 12 months as safety and hygiene became the highest priority for grocers and shoppers.
“The idea of being able to walk out of a store with your daily incremental shop without having to touch a checkout, screen or keypad will be hugely appealing for many.”
Co-op to hold meeting over £80m state funding repayment
Co-op will reportedly hold a crunch board meeting next week to decide whether to hand back £80 million of state funding it received during the pandemic. The group’s directors will meet next Tuesday to discuss whether to repay the funding it had received in the form of business rates relief and furlough payments. Co-op’s boardroom had seen “robust dialogue” over the issue, with some directors keen to repay the funding in full, Sky News reported. Although the board is not yet technically split on the question of handing the money back because a vote has yet to take place, sources said “deep divisions” were expected to be exposed next week. The decision is expected to be made public in the group’s annual results announcement early next month. Nearly all of the Co-op’s privately owned rival supermarket chains have repaid substantial sums they obtained in business rates relief in recent months after Tesco became the first big grocer to do so late last year. On Wednesday, Aldi, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Morrisons said they would refuse a further windfall from the Treasury after Chancellor Rishi Sunak extended a rates holiday until June. Iceland has insisted it is justified in retaining the money, while John Lewis Partnership is likely to clarify its position when it announces financial results next week. One option for the Co-op would be to repay a proportion of the money it received that relates to its food retailing business. The Co-op employs more than 55,000 in its retail business.
Dune to focus on occasional wear as store reopen in April
Dune has said it is continuing to back high heels as a key item once non-essential retailers begin to reopen in April. The shoe retailer said it will back high heels despite the trend has been towards flats even prior to Covid-19. The pandemic has led to an increase in loungewear as people stay and work from home. Dune said it is undeniable that “a year of the pandemic has reduced our appetite for high heels and dressier styles in favour of flats, trainers, and slippers”. From next month, it will add a small range of occasion shoes to its current more casual mix. “I think most retailers are going with an ‘only flat and trainers push’, but we will stay true to our heritage and continue to offer a special collection of heels for summer,” Dune global buying director Debra Bloom said. “We have a range of occasion shoes going from April onwards. It is a smaller mix than normal, but we saw demand even through lockdown 2020 for special shoes. We want to get people excited to get dressed up again. “We all know that heels are a huge part of looking and feeling good. Once we’re feeling the benefits of the vaccine and lockdown is over, we think everyone is going to want to go out to events and parties and get dressed up again.” Last month, Dune launched a major restructuring deal to secure lower rents after lockdowns had a “severe” impact on its finances. The footwear retailer, which was founded in 1992 by chief executive Daniel Rubin, is aiming to achieve this through the launch of a CVA. Dune currently operates 43 standalone stores and 175 concessions and employs around 1200 people.
Grocery chains' store growth rate doubles in 2020
The number of new grocery stores opening up across the UK doubled last year on the back of surging demand amidst the pandemic and an “essential” status allowing them to stay open during lockdowns. According to figures from Local Data Company and reported by Property Week, the total number of grocery stores in the UK grew 1.4 per cent in 2020. This is double the 0.7 per cent growth rate was recorded in 2019. Lidl – including Lidl’s Northern Ireland stores – and Aldi had the most number of store openings in the UK in 2020. According to the Local Data Company research, the two German discounters opened 76 and 66 new stores, respectively. Third on the list was Iceland-owned The Food Warehouse, which opened 28 new stores last year. Rounding out the top five were Heron Foods and Tesco, both of which opened eight new stores respectively. Meanwhile, Waitrose and Iceland were the only major grocery chains to close stores last year. Local Data Company found that almost every region in UK experienced a net uplift in new grocery store openings, with the East of England leading the charge with 3.3 per cent growth. This was followed by the South East and Scotland, which were tied second with growth of 2.5 per cent each. The West Midlands followed closely behind with growth of 2.3 per cent. The only regions that saw a decline in new grocery store openings were Greater London and Yorkshire & Humber, which saw drops of 0.1 per cent and 0.4 per cent respectively. “Supermarkets and convenience retailing, for obvious reasons, proved much more resilient through the Covid-19 pandemic than other categories,” Local Data Company head of retail partnerships Lucy Stainton said. She added: “It will be critical for supermarket retailers to find the right balance from a portfolio perspective to capture the key, somewhat opposing, trends – that of shopping hyper locally and a move back to the less frequent ‘big shops’, as shoppers seek to reduce the risk of Covid-19 by doing large shops less often.” She also said: “Due to the challenges faced by other sectors, available space is increasing both in city centres and larger format/out-of-town locations, presenting an opportunity for supermarkets across both of these channels.”
M&S Bank closes all customer current accounts and scraps all in-store branches
Marks & Spencer is scrapping all M&S Bank customers’ current account and closing all in-store branches as it dramatically scales back its financial arm.
M&S, which launched its banking service in 1985 and has been running it as a joint partnership with HSBC since 2004, has informed all its customers that their current accounts will soon be closed.
The embattled high street giant also announced that it will close all 29 in-store M&S Bank branches this summer, The Telegraph reported.
While M&S says its plans to keep all of its in-store travel money desks open, its banking arm will now focus largely on credit cards and store rewards, having scrapped new home loans last March.
It comes amid an indepth overhaul of M&S wider operations, as it looks to cut costs and transition to a more digital model in the wake of waning sales, even before the pandemic.
Last month M&S chief executive Steve Rowe warned that he would be forced to let thousands more staff go if the government did not reform the UK’s business rates system.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, he said “seismic upheaval” caused by the Covid-19 pandemic would lead to doom and gloom on the high street unless the “unbearable yoke” of business rates undergoes a “fundamental review”.