THE HUB RETAIL RECRUITMENT’S MONTHLY NEWSROUND
- Date: 30 November 2016
- Posted By: admin
November has been a bumper month for stories, and it’s been hard to narrow it down – so hard in fact that we’ve organised them into two sections: Retail and Employment. Our retail stories are: House of Fraser or House of Cards; Dunelm rescues WS Group; and Black Friday deal or no deal? Our employment news ranges from the cost of sleep deprived staff through to the end of salary sacrifice tax breaks. We’re sure you’ll find something amongst all of these to pique your interest.
RETAIL
House of Fraser or House of Cards? House of Fraser has been in the news a lot this month – and whilst the phrase goes that there’s no such thing as bad publicity, I shouldn’t think its owners are thrilled with these two stories: Nigel Oddy, it’s CEO has resigned, allegedly over internal wrangling, and with a string of other senior departures over recent months, and more expected, this first article says a source regards HoF to be in meltdown. To add to its woes, it has been fined £40,000 for misleading its customers over the discounts on offer. Misleading customers goes to the heart of trust and loyalty – so this is bound to have an adverse effect on its sales, which were already struggling. But we’d hate HoF to go the same way as BHS and Austin Reed – perhaps its owner, the Chinese company Sunpower, will make good its original promise of investing in the company and turning it around. Here’s wishing HoF better times in 2017.
http://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2016/11/house-of-fraser-boss-quits-amid-internal-meltdown
Dunelm buys WS Group: According to these two articles, Dunelm has saved WS Group ‘from collapse’. Why would Dunelm be interested in WS Group? Firstly, let’s tell you who WS Group is: it consists of on-line home and garden retailer Worldstores, on-line homewares members-only retailer Achica, and Kiddicare which is on-line and has some stores. Dunelm’s interest in WS Group is because it wants to grow its on-line presence – as its CEO John Browett put it, buying WS Group was an ‘opportunity to accelerate the growth of our internet operation, more than doubling its size’. According to these articles the jobs of the 650 people employed by WS Group are safe, so that’s a relief. We wish Dunelm and WS Group a prosperous partnership.
http://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2016/11/dunelm-doubles-online-operation-with-8-pounds-5-pence-million-acquisition
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/11/28/dunelm-buys-struggling-ws-group-move-boost-online-presence/
Black Friday: Were you tempted? And if so, did you go in-store or on-line? Apparently, most of us went on-line – up by 25% more than last year. And the main reason for this was that we didn’t want to get caught up in the scrummaging that Black Friday is now synonymous for. Interestingly, not all retailers agree that Black Friday offers discounts. The CEO of Jigsaw, Peter Ruis, feels that some discounts are ‘deceptions’, because what’s on offer is not worth the original price – so it might have been bought in specially with lower quality and therefore lower price, or might even be left over from previous sales. He also feels that retailers are devaluing the High Street, and looking like ‘traders peddling cheap stuff on a market stall’. We think there’s examples of both – genuine bargains – and not so genuine bargains. The key is to buy intelligently so you get the bargains and not the duds.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38097413
EMPLOYMENT
A number of interesting stories has emerged this month, that are as relevant to you if you’re an employee or an employer. There was the Autumn Statement which included the phasing out of salary sacrifice benefits that attract lower tax. The Government feels this is unfair because if your employer doesn’t offer a scheme then you can’t benefit. Companies that do offer such schemes are going to have to find innovative ways of offering benefits that are valued, but which no longer offer a tax benefit. All you reward experts out there – get creative!
And talking about benefits, we all know that work/life balance is important. We don’t necessarily practice it, and certainly some professions are known for having very long working hours. One such of these is the legal profession. Interestingly, there’s a report just out that says 67% of lawyers would rather have flexible working than a 5% pay increase. Now if lawyers feel like that, it would suggest it really is a benefit that’s very highly valued across the population. So if you’re an employer, you might want to think about having flexible working, or improving your current arrangements.
You can’t have missed the BHS debacle, and certainly we’ve covered it extensively. At the heart of it is how can a boardroom get away sharp practices that strip a company of its assets, leave thousands of people without jobs and pensions. Well, Theresa May announced yesterday that the Government is launching a consultation on a new corporate governance code that will require companies to be much more robust and transparent about how it’s being run, with the intention that jobs and pensions are protected from asset stripping. Below is the link to the Government’s consultation – read it and submit your response – together with an article that summarises what the Government is trying to do.
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/corporate-governance-reform
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38138815
Here’s a couple of interesting articles about some research regarding our health at work. The first shows that a third of us avoid visiting the doctor because we feel under pressure at work. And that this is causing us to cancel, miss or postpone appointments with our GP. Not only does this mean we’re likely to get ill, but it must also account for some of the huge costs for the NHS of missed appointments. Another report looks at the effect of sleep deprivation and estimates that it is costing the UK economy £40b a year. That’s made up of under-productive staff who are too tired, and people who are too tired to go to work at all. We’re all aware of the intrusion of technology in our lives, and this is growing. This report suggests that not only should companies provide nap rooms, but importantly, it makes sure its staff don’t feel under pressure to be working late into the evening on remote devices. Have a read and see if you’re affected by either of these issues.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38151180
Well, there’s a round up of the stories that caught our eye this month. Next week we’ll be back to our normal Weekly News Snippets – so make sure you’re back here on Wednesday 7 December. Until then, have a great week.