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December has again been quiet on the administration front with nothing recorded on SnapShop.
Rumours have been flying around concerning the future of BHS, but with their recent high profile appointments we will be keeping a close eye on them as Retail Acquisitions continues to turn the chain around.
The news continues to focus on last month’s events surrounding Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Manic Monday and the fact that many retailers are firmly now in Sale mode for the remainder of the year as they continue trying to entice shoppers into their stores. However, Mintel has predicted a 4% rise in retail sales to surpass the £42.5bn mark in December.
Interestingly, research by Allegra World Coffee Portal has forecast that the UK's coffee shop market will be worth over £15bn by 2020 with over 30,000 outlets. Its findings show that sales at the UK's 20,700 coffee shops grew 10% in the last year to £7.9bn. In the past year customers are estimated to have drunk 2.2bn cups of coffee out-of-home. Costa topped the sales chart with an estimated 169m cups sold.
Business rates are another focus of the news, citing significant increases in bills when the review happens in 2017. Research from Colliers International suggests that 76 of the UK's main towns and shopping centres will see an increase in their business rates bill, with some parts of London seeing an increase of more than 400%.
What will happen remains to be seen, but this, along with the implementation of the National Living Wage, is sure to be playing on retailers’ minds.
Lastly, nearly two in three British towns have seen their numbers of pubs, bars, restaurants and clubs rise or stay the same in the last year, the latest edition of the licensed trade’s Market Growth Monitor from AlixPartners and CGA Peach has revealed. This is good news as the festive season is in full swing, helping to breathe life back into UK town centres.
You can keep up-to-date with how retailers fare over the festive period on SnapShop as the all-important rent quarter day rears its head again.
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