Retailers and manufacturers can rebuild reputation through ethical supply chain management, argues Anna McAvoy, director at Millward Brown Corporate Practice, a specialist in business, stakeholder management and reputation research The repercussions of the clothing factory collapse in Bangladesh and Europe’s ‘horsemeat
Retailers who are looking to expand their online presence into other geographies will have to do a lot more than just replicate their existing consumer offer if they are to overcome considerable barriers to buying from ‘foreign’ sites. Failure to
Leading figures from across the food and drink industry met last week to celebrate the great achievements of the grocery industry over the last year. The annual IGD Industry Awards included for the first time the Digital Innovation Award and
Although the UK economy will grow next year, 15% of retail and 16% of construction businesses will continue to be at high risk of failure, according to new payment statistics released by D&B. However, the construction industry is starting to show
Retailers must take action immediately if they are struggling to meet their quarterly rent demands, warns Midlands-based corporate recovery and insolvency experts Cranfield Business Recovery. As landlords throughout the UK prepare to issue their three-month advance rental demands to shops
Effectively engaging employees in today’s challenging economic climate is increasingly important for retailers to maintain exemplary customer service levels and maximise sales, says Nigel Garrett, business development director at the workforce management solutions provider Workplace As the ‘face’ of a business, the
One in four (25%) firms in the UK retail and distribution sector are considering cutting costs to cater for the rising prices of raw materials, according to research carried out by leading commercial insurer NIG. The research, which surveyed businesses
Three quarters (77%) of the top 50 retailers in the UK are failing to deliver tailored marketing collateral to their customers, according to research, carried out by eCircle, a Teradata company. In contrast, retailers clearly understand the value and importance of
The festive season has lost some of its sparkle for retailers, with growth in sales on the high street slowing in December 2012, the CBI said today (19 December 2012). Responding to the CBI’s latest monthly Distributive Trades Survey during
Retailers are three times better integrated than financial institutions, with only 12% falling into the category of bottom tier performers, compared with 35% of financial institutions, according to a survey for data integration specialist, Liaison Technologies. The survey also revealed nearly half
Leading names in consumer and retail goods will visit the Reuters bureaus in New York, London, Paris, Milan, Dubai and Tokyo from 11-14 September 2012 to discuss the outlook for the sector in a series of exclusive interviews. The stories
James Constant, managing director at energy comparison firm and website, Business Juice, and in-house expert at Energy Forecaster, offers retailers six top energy tips When running a retail business, managing costs and maintaining cash flow is vital, so your energy
Bounce rates from mobile devices are currently 10% higher than on desktops, according to figures from search marketing agency, Mediarun. For retailers, this means over 5.6% of all mobile traffic, and potential sales, is currently being lost through lack of
Lucy Herbert, pensions manager at resident law firm, DWF, advises retailers on the legal ramifications of new pension auto-enrolment regulations launching in October 2012 In October 2012 the UK will see the roll out of pension auto-enrolment across the country.
Retailers have the second largest leveraged buyout loan (LBO) requirement in Europe, according to a new study by global law firm Linklaters. According to its study – Negotiating Europe’s LBO debt mountain – over $550bn of European leveraged buy-out loans are
Oliver Moazzezi, technical architect at cloud service provider, Cobweb Solutions, and a Microsoft MVP (Microsoft Exchange Most Valuable Professional), explores the retailer benefit for cloud computing. Cobweb also reveals how it has helped smoothies brand, Innocent Drinks, develop an outsourced IT
One large retail business in 17 is substantially reliant on high-risk suppliers, illustrating the fragility of many companies’ supply chains, according to new research by international procurement services provider Achilles. It has interviewed 200 UK companies, including some of the largest
Hamish Forbes, assistant in the real estate team at national law firm Dundas & Wilson, advises retailers on crowd control in the holiday shopping season The post-Christmas sales rush sees thousands of bargain hunters hit the shops. From a commercial
Christmas 2011 is set to be especially tough for retailers in countries across Europe with sales forecast to grow by just 0.8% in the eurozone, according to retail research agency Conlumino. Conlumino predicts France and Germany will top the league
Christmas 2011 is unlikely to bring much relief to hard-pressed retailers, according to retail research agency, Decipher. It is predicting total festive spend will be 0.6% or £200m lower this year than it was in 2010. Electrical retailers, in particular,
Small firms operating in the retail sector believe the current difficulties they face will get worse – not better – as the year progresses, with more believing prospects will worsen, according to the Federation of Small Businesses’ Voice of Small
Leading UK business insurance broker, Simply Business, is urging retailers affected by the recent riots to contact the police and their insurance company as soon as possible. Jason Stockwood, CEO at Simply Business, said: “For the businesses and landlords who have
Retailers are the gloomiest about the prospects of the prevailing financing environment in the UK, according to a study of 200 CEOs and CFOs by accountants Grant Thornton. The finance flow – will the money start moving in 2011? study
Top UK retailers are failing to get the best results from email by neglecting techniques like social media bookmarking links, personalisation and post-sales marketing, according to an annual benchmarking study by digital marketing agency dotMailer. Boots and Asos topped the
Google is launching a competition to find the best independent retail website in the UK. The Best of British Web Competition aims to inspire small retailers to make the most of their websites and reap the business rewards of being
