THE HUB RETAIL RECRUITMENT’S WEEKLY NEWS SNIPPETS

On a very wet day we bring you our favourite picks of the week’s stories – with not a mention of the election as we promised you when it was first announced. Put your hand up if you’re sick and tired of it! So, here’s some stories for you to feast on that are far more interesting: John Lewis caught out?; M&S gets its mojo back; Time to tighten our belts?; Age discriminate at your peril; and There is such a thing as beauty sleep.

John Lewis caught out?: JLP has traded on its guarantee ‘Never knowingly undersold’ for over 90 years. However, the Martin Lewis website – MoneySavingExpert.com – seems to have caught out the retailer on reliability of this assurance. Having bought 16 items, in-store and online, all were cheaper elsewhere. But JLP didn’t recalibrate the prices on more than 10 of these items once MSE reported it to the retailer. And of these, only 1 was changed within a week. JLP did refund the difference on all items, and has said that it will look carefully at the report to see if there are changes it could make to reaffirm the guarantee, but says that whilst MSE found these 16 items, the report doesn’t mention the millions of other products that are cheaper than any other retailer. It’s certainly given us pause for thought. This could be very damaging to John Lewis – we recognise how difficult in this Ecommerce world it must be to keep up with all the prices in the market – but if it stands by its guarantee, then it has to do just that, otherwise it will lose the confidence and trust of its customers.

https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2017/05/john-lewis-fire-never-knowingly-undersold-price-pledge/

M&S gets its mojo back: What a difference a season can make. M&S has just unveiled its Autumn 2017 collection – and wow, we’re very impressed. It’s really stepped up to the mark with this collection, taking its cue from the catwalk trends such as the fluted sleeve. Of course seeing it in the flesh as it were might not live up to the pictures, but it does look right up to date! Do you agree? We hope so and that this marks a real turning point for the ailing retailer – let’s face it, its ladies wear has left a lot to be desired for some years now – but this could mark a real comeback. We’ll let you know what we think when we see it in the flesh as it were.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/may/16/ms-marks-spencer-fluted-sleeves-womenswear

Time to tighten our belts?: Well, it’s not looking great is it? Inflation has jumped this month to 2.7%, but our pay rises are averaging around 2.1%. So that means in real terms we’re going to be around 0.6% worse off. And yet unemployment is at its lowest since 1975, and there are more jobs available than ever before, with 777,000 vacancies on offer over the last 4 months which suggests that hiring will remain strong. Inflation was pushed up mainly by increases in airfares and fuel. But that’s been the story for a few months now. It’s probably fair to say that caution will start creeping into consumer spending before too long. We’ll certainly let you know if, and where, it starts to hit.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/05/17/uk-unemployment-lowest-level-since-1975-prices-rise-faster/

Age discriminate at your peril: To all you employers out there, you’ll want to be aware of this Tribunal which has just awarded a man £182,000 for age discrimination when he was forced out of his job at the age of 67. Apparently, his employer wanted him to retire at 65, and had even recruited his replacement! So a salient lesson. And a costly one.

http://www2.cipd.co.uk/pm/peoplemanagement/b/weblog/archive/2017/05/08/tribunal-win-39-shows-dangers-of-not-respecting-retirement-wishes-39.aspx?utm_medium=email&utm_source=cipd&utm_campaign=cipdupdate&utm_term=68296&utm_content=170517-10091-40225-20170517062439-Tribunal%20win%20%27shows%20dangers%20of%20not%20respecting%20retirement%20wishes%27

There is such a thing as beauty sleep: The phrase ‘I must get my beauty sleep’ does actually apparently stand up to scrutiny. This research demonstrates that if we haven’t had enough sleep for 2 consecutive nights and therefore look drawn, have bags or dark circles under our eyes, we’re not as attractive to other people. It makes sense when put like that, as that doesn’t paint a pretty picture! But this study is saying that lack of sleep really does make us appear quite ugly to others, who also perceive us as being less healthy. So if you’ve had trouble sleeping recently you might have trouble pulling!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-39933232

There you go – we hope you found something of interest. If so, be back here next Wednesday, 24th May, for The Hub Retail Recruitment’s Weekly News Snippets. Have a great week in the meantime.