THE HUB RETAIL RECRUITMENT’S MONTHLY NEWSROUND
- Date: 22 February 2017
- Posted By: admin
Although it’s only the 22nd February, it’s the last Wednesday of the month and therefore we bring you our monthly roundup of news items that have caught our eye. This month our top picks are: Increases in business rates fallout; Retail sales take a knock; Pay increases; Another gig economy decision; and Advert for the youngest of candidates.
Increases in business rates fallout: And what a fallout it is. MPs have now waded in to try and get Philip Hammond, Chancellor, to put a stop to the increases in business rates which, according to some experts, are going to hit our High Streets hard. And Mary Portas, ‘Queen of Shops’ has added her criticism to the reforms, calling them ‘madness’, and saying they should be scrapped. It seems that whilst the rates are reassessed every 5 years – so are overdue – the way in which the changes are being introduced is at the heart of the problem. Have a read of these two articles and see what you think. You’ll see from the next news item that this is connected to the worries about retail sales more generally.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39034670
Retail sales take a knock: It would appear that, although sales were up 1.5% on the previous January (2016), there’s concerns that this is the smallest increase since 2013, and therefore suggests that underlying sales are starting to tumble. As you know, last year we were inundated with doom and gloom predictions post-brexit that just didn’t transpire. This first article sets out why that didn’t happen when so many experts were predicting the bottom dropping out of the markets. So what’s going wrong now? Apparently, it’s because the rise in raw materials, particularly in oil, and the fall in the pound, is now starting to work its way through. With business rates going up on the High Street, this will also effect prices. And inflation is also increasing – although our pay in going up, see below – and therefore all the factors may well add up to us being more cautious. Is that how you’re feeling? And if so, is that because of any of the reasons in these articles, or something else entirely?
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/feb/19/is-this-the-end-of-uks-retail-boom
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39002325
Pay increases: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) last week issued its February 2017 report on an array of figures such as inflation and employment – and by the way, it’s worth noting that employment is now at an all-time high of 74.6% – in other words there’s more of us in employment than ever before. Its report included something close to all our hearts – pay. It said that in real terms, we are earning 1.4% more than we were a year ago. Real pay is after taking account for the effect of inflation, in other words, despite inflation, pay has increased by 1.4%. This article also reports on the ONS figures that shows total pay which includes bonuses rose by 2.6%. But both of these increases are the the lowest for 2 years. So pay is another underlying figure that’s looking precarious.
Another gig economy decision: The well publicised tribunal decision that workers for Uber (the taxi app) were entitled to workers rights has been followed by a similar decision by the Court of Appeal in favour of people working at Pimlico Plumbers (PPs). This article explains that the claim bought against PPs demonstrated that the ‘independent contractors’ were in fact workers and entitled to basic rights, such as sick pay and paid holiday. This article is urging businesses to think carefully about the status of the people who work for them. And if you were wondering what the gig economy means, it’s ‘a labour market characterised by the prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work as opposed to permanent jobs’.
http://www2.cipd.co.uk/pm/peoplemanagement/b/weblog/archive/2017/02/13/plumber-s-employment-rights-victory-a-wake-up-call-for-businesses.aspx?utm_medium=email&utm_source=cipd&utm_campaign=cipdupdate&utm_term=68296&utm_content=150217-8789-31796-20170221182247-Plumber’s%20employment%20rights%20victory%20a%20‘wake-up%20call’%20for%20businesses
Advert for the youngest candidate: We reported recently that the Government wants to encourage employers to hire older workers. Well this goes to the other end of the spectrum! Chessington World of Adventures is looking for a pre-schooler, aged between 1-5, to toddler-proof its resort before March when it will be launching a new ride – Gruffalo River Ride Adventure. This article gives you the person specification – if you have a child who is ‘a complete chatterbox’, ‘curious and into everything’, ‘temperamental’, ‘a total hypochondriac’, ‘flexible when it comes to napping’ and ‘passionate about small spaces’ you might want to think about applying!
https://www.employeebenefits.co.uk/issues/february-online-2017/theme-park-recruits-toddler-ride-testers/?cmpid=ebupdate_3108355
Well, that’s our round up for February. But there is still 6 days left of it, the last of which is Pancake Tuesday – happing flipping! See you back here again on Wednesday 1st March for our Weekly News Snippets.