Economy

Pre-Christmas sales see biggest growth since 1988

Retail sales in the run up to Christmas have accelerated at their fastest pace for almost 26 years, according to…

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Changing shopping habits continue to drive down footfall, says BRC

Footfall in November was down 2.4% on the same time last year, down on the 0.8% fall in October and…

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Small Business Saturday boosts local spending

Consumers across the UK helped support Small Business Saturday on December 6, with 16.5 million people shopping in small independent…

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UK to become largest luxury goods market in Europe by 2018

Luxury Goods retailing in Europe is forecast to reach $150bn (£96bn) by 2018, with the UK set to overtake France…

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Hallmarking set to top 10m items for first time in three years

The total number of hallmarked items is set to top 10 million for the first time since 2011, the latest…

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Polished diamond suppliers reduce prices in November

Polished diamond prices fell in November as suppliers lowered prices in an effort to improve cash flow, according to Rapaport’s…

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Business rates set to undergo structural review

Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, has said in his Autumn Statement that business rates will undergo a full “structural…

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Jewellery comes third in cross-border buying habits

Jewellery is the third most popular category for customers making cross-border purchases online in the US, according to new research. …

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Online sales set to grow ahead of Christmas, says IMRG

Online sales are back on track following a disappointing September, with annual growth of 14% in October.  This is according…

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Shop vacancies rise for first time since Q1 2013

The average shop vacancy rate in town centres in the UK was 10.3% in October, up from July’s rate of…

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