THE HUB RETAIL RECRUITMENT’S WEEKLY NEWS SNIPPETS
- Date: 15 February 2017
- Posted By: admin
The week has been packed with all sorts of news, from around the world. But we’re bringing you stories closer to home. This week, you’ll find: Waitrose cuts; Tesco mis-charging; Inflation jumps; Business rates to hit our High Streets; to read about, and some human interest news too: Millennial men earn less; Never mind carer leave, how about some puppy leave.
Waitrose cuts: A surprise move by Waitrose, given that it’s food sales have been holding up well – up by 2.8% in December. But the company has started consulting with staff about closing 6 stores, and removing a layer of management. In all, about 700 jobs will go. Waitrose quite rightly keeps the performance of each store under close review. It’s therefore safe to assume that these stores in places like Hertford and Staines aren’t doing too well. But the new MD of Waitrose, Rob Collins who took over last year, says he will be opening 8 new stores, most of them convenience ones, whilst investing in some of the existing stores to upgrade the facilities to include cafes and wine bars. So whilst its Christmas sales were up, we know that its underlying operating costs are going to be high wiping out much of its profits – so it’ll be interesting to see how Waitrose weathers what the chairman, Charlie Mayfield, called ‘a challenging year ahead’ for the company.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/feb/08/hundreds-of-waitrose-jobs-may-go-as-retailer-plans-six-store-closures
Tesco mis-charging: A big news item this week was the BBC undercover story which started when a researcher realised they had been overcharged on an item that was on offer. It transpired that of the 50 stores investigated, 33 of them had offers on display which had run out. So if you thought for example that you were getting Ariel pouches half price because that’s what the display showed, it might be that the offer had run out and you were charged full price at the till. And let’s face it, how many of us cheque our till receipts? We trust that we’re being charged correctly. Well maybe we need to be less trusting and more vigilant. Or perhaps Tesco would like to get it’s house in order. And is it only Tesco’s processes that aren’t working properly? Are there other supermarkets who are overcharging us? We’d better start checking all our receipts!
Inflation jumps: Yes. Another rise this month. It’s now standing at 1.8% – up from 1.6% last month – largely due to continued rises at the petrol pumps and on food, but offset by falling clothing and footwear prices. The Government is saying that it’s still below the 2% the Bank of England want it to be, as we’ve been reporting for the last few months. But there are some other figures in this report that really do cause concern. The hike of 20.5% paid by manufacturers for materials and fuel was the fastest since 2008, and up 15.8% on December’s figure. And there was an overall increase of 3.5% on goods leaving factories. The Office for National Statistics who compiles the figures said that the increases in raw materials and goods leaving factories rose significantly because of the higher oil prices and the weak pound. Where is all this going to lead? It’s difficult to say, but we think we can be pretty sure that it’s us, the consumer, who will ultimately pay for these increases.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38966692
Business rates to hit our High Streets: An overhaul of the business rates system is expected to have an adverse effect on our High Streets. The re-calculation is based on updated property prices since it was last done in 2008. It’s reported that some businesses will have their rates increased three-fold, but there are others that will decrease or stay the same. Amazon however, as reported in this article, is one of those who will gain, as its warehouses’ rates are to be cut. But many of the pubs and restaurants we see on our High Streets, from Pizza Express to Wagamama are likely to be hit. Philip Hammond, Chancellor of the Exchequer is being urged to reconsider the rises, especially given the precarious economic climate retailers are finding themselves in at the moment. And let’s face it, some of our High Streets are starting to look pretty diminished, so rather than making the situation worse, surely it’s in all our interests to keep our High Streets open and to help them thrive.
Millennial men earn less: On the whole, as a society we assume that each generation will do better than the one before. Of course if you follow that logic through, there has to come a point where it’s impossible to attain any more. And according to this research, we’ve got there! Millennial men – those born in the ’80s and ’90s – are apparently earning on average £12,500 per year less than their fathers. Why? Because of the loss of so many skilled and well paid manufacturing jobs, which are driving men into low paid work, such as bar work and in retail. So not a good picture. Although apparently this is helping narrow the pay gap between men and women in that age group – but only because there are so many more women in low paid work! No doubt we’ll be hearing some more on this topic over the next few weeks.
http://www.cityam.com/258731/heres-much-less-millennial-men-earning
Never mind carer leave, how about some puppy leave?: As you know if you’re a regular reader, we’re firm supporters of dogs in the workplace – not least because we have our very own Jack The Office Dog. So our ears pricked up – sorry, couldn’t resist that – when we read about BrewDog, a craft beer company in Scotland, extending its benefits package to include a week’s paid leave to help settle in a new puppy or rescue dog. What a great thing to do. And BrewDog also welcomes well behaved dogs in the workplace. We’ll be looking out for BrewDog beer from now on!
https://www.employeebenefits.co.uk/issues/february-online-2017/brewdog-introduces-paid-puppy-parental-leave-staff/?cmpid=ebnews_3103470
That’s another Weekly News Snippets we hope you’ve enjoyed. We’ll be back here next Wednesday 22 February. And although it seems so early in the month, it will be our Monthly Newsround. How time flies!