Shop footfall ‘falls like a stone’
PA Media Footfall “fell like a stone” on Scotland’s high streets last month as lockdown restrictions took hold, according to a retail industry survey. Scottish Retail Consortium data found footfall plummeted year-on-year by more than 50% in December. SRC said shops were “caught in a pincer movement” between local lockdowns at the start of the […]
UK job vacancies reach 20-year high
Getty Images The number of job vacancies in the UK has hit a record high, according to the latest official figures. The largest increase in vacancies was in the retail sector and in motor vehicle repair, it said. The UK unemployment rate was estimated at 4.5%, compared with a rate of 4% before the pandemic. […]
Hampshire petition over disabled people’s bus pass cuts
Waterside Changemakers Campaigners were joined by two councillors as they handed in the petition to Hampshire County Council Campaigners have handed in a petition over a council move to reduce the scope of disabled people’s bus passes. Hampshire County Council currently allows free travel at any time of the day for pass holders and helpers. […]
Scotland to set faster target for net-zero emissions
Kevin Keane BBC Scotland’s environment correspondent Getty Images Climate change campaigners have staged protests in Edinburgh The Scottish government will legislate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2045 after receiving fresh advice from an expert panel. The panel says Scotland has more potential sites for carbon capture and a greater landmass for tree […]
How much power do UK farmers have over trade deals?
Getty Images Don’t mess with the farmers. That is the message the government has so far inadvertently sent out in regard to trade policy. While attention is on the fate of the UK-Australia negotiations, it is worth considering what has happened to the US-UK deal. It was once deemed the great prize of post-Brexit free […]
Is it facing demise or resurgence?
Rebecca Cafe and Nicky Ford BBC News PA Media The nature of shopping on Oxford Street is changing – but is it for the better? Known as the nation’s high street, Oxford Street in central London has long attracted domestic shoppers and tourists. But with the pandemic, hybrid working and the phenomenon of US-themed sweet […]
Stella McCartney and Ellen MacArthur call for fashion sustainability
Rebecca Marston Business reporter, BBC News Stella McCartney Stella McCartney is calling for radical changes to the “incredibly wasteful” fashion industry. The designer is backing a report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation which claims half of High Street fashion is disposed of within a year. It also says the amount of clothing bought has doubled […]
Indra Nooyi: ‘Everybody’s watching you’
Natalie Sherman Business reporter, New York Getty Images PepsiCo chief executive Indra Nooyi in 2011 Indra Nooyi was an unusual presence at the top of the business world. An immigrant and a woman, she served as chief executive of PepsiCo for 12 years – a position that placed her among the world’s most powerful corporate […]
Cornwall locals ‘too scared’ to go shopping
Jonathan Pitts Residents described the situation in St Ives as “absolute madness” Residents in popular resorts have said they are “too scared” to go food shopping because of visitors pouring down narrow streets and ignoring social distancing. On social media locals have described some Cornish resorts as being “absolute madness,” and “Benidorm on steroids”. Street […]
‘If you eat here, you’re dining with rats’
Lucy Hooker Business reporter, New York Getty Images Add a plague of rats to all the other challenges New York City has faced in 2021 Diem Boyd was sitting outside a restaurant in New York’s fashionable Greenwich Village in September, when a family of rats scurried across her feet. “Within seconds everybody jumped up,” she […]