THE HUB RETAIL RECRUITMENT’S NEWS SNIPPETS
- Date: 19 October 2016
- Posted By: admin
It’s October’s last weekly news snippets – next week will be our monthly roundup so don’t miss it. For now, we bring you: Trouble at t’Mill; Looking up; and Inflation – what’s it all about?
Trouble at t’Mill: What was all that about between Tesco and Unilever? One day they were at each others throats, and our staple products were being removed from the shelves. The next day, they’d made up and all was well again. Was it a way for Tesco to resolve the issue by going public and exposing Unilever’s efforts to whack up wholesale prices by 10%? Well, if it was, it worked! But will Tesco be able to resolve another significant issue that it’s facing? This week, a claim has been submitted to the Employment Tribunal for discrimination, on the basis that the cuts it has made to night and weekend shifts amount to age and gender discrimination. This claim comes after the new pay rates were negotiated and agreed with the workers’ union Usdaw. The firm of solicitors bringing the claim estimate that 38,000 workers could be affected. This is one to watch as it could have far reaching consequences across the retail sector. Here’s a couple of articles about both news items:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37650234
Looking up: This week, retailers who have had good sales news are ASOS, Tesco (yes, they’re in the news a lot this week!) and Burberry. ASOS increased sales by a whopping 26%, with its gross profits rising at about the same rate. Interestingly though, as we’ve seen with other retailers recently who have increased their sales, ASOS’s pre-tax profits fell by a whopping 31% because of costs of litigation amongst other things – apparently BuzzFeed (a media group) is claiming that ASOS is an “uncaring, secretive and exploiting employer from Victorian times”. Tesco has increased its market share for the first time in 5 years. It might only be slight at 1.8%, but it’s a really significant sign that Dave Lewis really is turning the company around. And Burberry saw a jump in its sales by 30%, thanks to the weaker pound which tourists are making the most of by treating themselves to luxury good. But as you’ll see from the article below, the retailer took a tumble on its share price due to its investors Merrill Lynch downgrading the company. Talk about mixed fortunes!
https://www.ft.com/content/d23269e0-9524-11e6-a1dc-bdf38d484582
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/10/18/tesco-grows-market-share-for-first-time-in-five-years/
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/oct/18/strong-uk-sales-at-burberry-fail-to-cheer-investors
Inflation – what’s it all about? So, inflation rose last month more than expected. By 0.4% on the previous month. It’s now at 1%. Surprise surprise, there is disagreement as to why. Some experts say its the Brexit effect, some that it isn’t. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) – the Government body that compiles these critical statistics – say its because of higher petrol, clothes, and footwear prices. The ONS has said that the increases are not due to the weaker pound, but some experts say it is. You can read what’s behind these differing opinions in these articles and make up your own mind. Our opinion? There are complaints when inflation is too low. There are complaints when it’s too high. So our view is that some people are never happy!
http://news.sky.com/story/dont-blame-brexit-for-inflation-rise-yet-10622123
Well, that’s a snapshot of news stories over the last week. Look out for our monthly roundup next week, Wednesday, 26th October. And until then, have a great week.