THE HUB RECRUITMENT RETAILS’ MONTHLY NEWSROUND

As it’s the last Wednesday in May, it is, wait for it, The Hub Retail Recruitment’s Monthly Newsround – a summary of some of the key headlines over the last few weeks. We’ve chosen: BHS – last chance saloon to find a buyer; M & S trading is stormy – but is better weather on the way?; Can Mothercare show M & S the way?; FTSE up helped by Tesco and Kingfisher; Working from home up by 20%; 9 out of 10 EU workers working in the UK worried about Brexit. 

BHS – last chance saloon: so, word has it that if a buyer isn’t found by Friday, BHS will be liquidised. It would seem that its last hopes rest with a consortium that includes a former Mothercare boss. It was thought previously that Matalan founder, John Hargreaves, was in the running, but he seems to have dropped out of the race. This uncertainty must be very hard on its 11000 staff. And certainly, our insiders tell us that they’ve been told the business would be sold any day now – for the past 3 weeks! One way or another, whatever happens by Friday, it will be a relief to the staff to know for certain whether they have a job or not. We wish them well with their job search, and are playing our part by helping some of them find new jobs.

Meanwhile, its former bosses are having to explain themselves to a Parliamentary Select Committee. Our insiders at Arcadia tell us that the atmosphere is very tense, as preparing for a PSC is, we know, really hard. Having sat in a couple, it is painful to watch MPs make eminent people squirm by being so unforgiving if a questions can’t be answered – and questions can be so left field. But the PSC is right to examine what happened at BHS – let’s hope what it finds out will make a difference – both to the staff now, and to those that could be at risk in the future.

M & S trading is stormy – but is better weather on the way?: Steve Rowe has been explaining the company’s very mixed trading – overall it’s down by some 18%, which is pretty shocking. But as Mr Rowe explained this morning, this overall figure hides some strong trading in areas like food. We could all answer the question; ‘so what’s dragging it down?’ Clothes! He recognises that this is at the heart of M & S’s problems and says the company has been consulting with 250,000 of its customers, the outcome of which is, we want better clothes – quality, price, and style – and we want a better experience in-store – changing rooms, cafe, toilets. And of course, making the investments needed means that profits in the short-term will be hit – but you can’t expect to turn the company round without some initial financial pain. We certainly don’t want M & S to go the way of BHS, so we wish Mr Rowe – who started as a sales assistant at M & S, which is a great example of how the company nurtures its talent – the best of luck as we look forward to taking our business back to M & S when it has some great clothes for us to buy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36376282

Can Mothercare show M & S the way?: Mothercare is not only a good news story – it’s really quite unprecedented. The company has just reported some impressive figures. Wow! How? Well, the picture is actually mixed – the UK is really turning round, but its fortunes abroad are poor. But it’s doing two very sensible things: it’s closing some of its stores and investing in others; and it’s supporting its suppliers by offering better payment terms. So the former is painful, the latter very ethical. We’ll be following Mothercare’s progress, as no doubt M & S will too.

http://www.retail-week.com/sectors/general-merchandise/mothercare-full-year-profits-up-51-as-uk-turnaround-continues/7007647.fullarticle

Working from home up by 20%: According to new research by the TUC, people working from home now number some 1.5 million. That’s up by almost 20% over the last decade. But the report says that this is slowing down, and that employers are still finding it hard to let go, requiring staff to come into the office from time to time. For The Hub Retail Recruitment, it’s no surprise that home working is on the rise, as employment figures tell us that improved unemployment statistics include a significant rise in people starting their own businesses – just like us – and with advances in technology and improved transport, more new business can be home based than ever before and therefore reducing costly overheads – a saving that can be passed on to clients. This article explains the rise in home working and some of the issues behind it.

http://www.cipd.co.uk/pm/peoplemanagement/b/weblog/archive/2016/05/20/number-of-staff-working-from-home-passes-1-5-million.aspx

9 out of 10 EU workers in the UK are worried about Brexit: Not surprisingly, EU workers here in the UK are worried that, if we leave the EU, their jobs will be at risk. Certainly, this report says that most EU workers would not pass the existing visa test for non-EU workers. But it also says that it is likely to take up to 2 years for a new criteria to be implemented. There is no doubt that employers need to be thinking now about what an exit might mean for their business as well as their staff. Our economy relies on significant numbers of EU workers – so planning for their continued employment will be key to the prosperity of our UK companies.

http://www.cipd.co.uk/pm/peoplemanagement/b/weblog/archive/2016/05/23/eu-employees-troubled-by-potential-brexit.aspx

So, a lot to talk about at the end of May – a very varied picture on lots of fronts – not least the weather! Do let us know your thoughts on these stories – or the ones we didn’t report on. And next week, it’ll be The Hub Retail Recruitment’s Weekly Snippets. Look out for it on Wednesday 1 June.