As recently covered by Walsh Taylor on our blog, retailers across the UK have been struggling over the past year or so as a result of a drop in sales. With two new reports highlighting the sector’s bad performance in 2018, this trend unfortunately shows no signs of slowing down.
The first part of data, states that the number of FTSE-listed businesses issuing profit warnings increased by 13 to 58 in Q2, which represents a 29% growth from the same period of last year.
The second, on the other hand, came from the British Retail Consortium (BRC), who found that almost a fifth of retailers plan on making cuts to the number of staff they employ in the next three months. This comes despite the fact that the amount of people employed in the industry has already dropped by nearly 3% in the past three months. Redundancies also surged to three times the size of 2017’s levels.
Whilst the above is likely due to a myriad of reasons, rising costs and the continued shift to shoppers going digital have both been mooted as causes. Research by EmpathyBroker, for instance, suggests that over 55% are shopping online more this year compared to last. Additionally, 51% apparently prefer to buy via the Internet than in-store.
In assisting companies throughout Yorkshire and the North East, the Leeds, Harrogate, Bradford and Darlington-based teams at Walsh Taylor sympathise with anyone currently under financial pressure.
We always urge those needing help to seek advice as soon as issues are identified, as this way potential clients can be made aware of their available options and work towards the best possible outcome.
For more details on how we can assist, please feel free to call us on 03300 244 660.
