THE HUB RETAIL RECRUITMENT’S WEEKLY NEWS SNIPPETS

With just days to go until Christmas Day, here’s our Weekly News Snippets. We’ve rounded up a selection of stories from the last 7 days, and hope that you find something of interest: Spend spend spend; Return of the 1970s?; Designers dumped by Debenhams; and Sleep is the new employment trend.

Spend spend spend: Despite all the predictions of a crash in the face of the Brexit vote, month on month we’ve reported that it just hasn’t materialised. So maybe Christmas would be a bit quieter? Nope. It’s a bumper Christmas, according to a recent report by the CBI – with reports of 35% increases in sales, way above expectations. There is of course a note of caution – that 2017 will see the deprecation of the pound affecting the retail sector as more expensive imports start to hit our pockets. Let’s wait and see. One company that’s riding high at the moment is The White Company, who has reported earnings up by 51% on the year before, and sales up 12.5% – apparently we’re loving its fragrances, daywear, and bedding. Are you a customer? We take a look from time to time, especially as they’re always offering discount – although we’re not sure this is a good way forward for a business that’s in the medium-higher end range. A little too Laura Ashley – always in sale – for us.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/12/20/keen-shoppers-give-businesses-bumper-christmas/

http://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2016/12/the-white-companys

Return of the 1970s?: For those of us who remember the 1970s, it was a period of widespread industrial unrest. Strikes were the norm, and at one point people in some industries could only work a 3 day week because the strikes in the energy industry meant there wasn’t enough electricity to run homes and businesses. We had candles and paraffin lamps in our homes in the evenings – and horror of horrors, no TV! Is the recent flurry of industrial action a return to those days? We think not. But as these articles explain, industrial action since then – and the 1980s when we had the miners strike – has been very minimal which means that lots of businesses don’t know how to deal with industrial relations anymore. But as this article also points out, would Amazon staff have received their pay rise if they hadn’t threatened to strike in the days before Christmas. We think the answer’s ‘no’! Some would say that people shouldn’t have to hold their employers to ransom to get a fair day’s pay. And whilst we’re on Amazon, it’s in the news again for its poor working conditions. It’s getting a lot of bad press, and now the Sunday Times went undercover and exposed people being sacked if they’re sick, and earning so little they’re living in tents near to a warehouse in Scotland. Perhaps the Parliamentary Select Committee that scrutinised Sports Direct back in the summer need to take a look at Amazon too?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38327519

http://www2.cipd.co.uk/pm/peoplemanagement/b/weblog/archive/2016/12/12/amazon-penalises-staff-for-taking-sick-days-investigation-finds.aspx?

Designers dumped by Debenhams: A new broom sweeps clean – so the saying goes. And the new CEO at Debenhams – Sergio Bucher – is certainly doing that by re-assessing the designers the retailer used for its collections. Betty Jackson is out. Jeff Banks is reduced to formal wear. John Rocha and Jasper Conran? No word on them yet. Mr Bucher isn’t against the concept of designer at Debenhams – he just want to freshen up what Debenham’s is offering.

http://www.standard.co.uk/business/debenhams-shakesup-longstanding-fashion-designer-partnerships-a3423831.html

Sleep is the new employment trend: We reported a few weeks ago on the growing realisation that sleep really affects our health. Particularly if we’re not getting enough, and it isn’t restorative sleep. Businesses are starting to realise that there’s a real cost to people turning up for work tired, or have to take time off due to illness caused by being exhausted and therefore more vulnerable to viruses and disease. Have a look at this article if you employ people – this insurance company is providing its staff with coaching sessions on how to sleep properly. We say that’s money well spent. Win-win for everyone concerned. Perhaps you should look into something similar for your staff in 2017.

Westfield Health to introduce sleep coaching sessions for its employees

We’ll still be here next week when we’ll be bringing you our top picks from December – and a little look forward to 2017. In the meantime, we wish you a very merry Christmas. Don’t eat and drink too much. Oh go on, do!