Independent UK retailers experienced a surprising 8% sales drop on average over the Royal Wedding weekend, as consumers abandoned high streets up and down the country in favour of watching the televised nuptials.
American Express Shop Small is an initiative shining a spotlight on shopkeepers across the nation – the campaign ran between 4 and 20 December and Ludovic Piot of Epicerie Ludo joined the cast of business owners involved in the initiative.
Fashion giant Topshop-Topman has partnered with pop-up retail space provider Appear Here to welcome rising designers and independent brands with an opportunity to get in front of its 400,000 weekly customers at the flagship store on Oxford Street.
Choosing suppliers can be a confusing and daunting task, but Total Gas & Power’s fixed price gas and electricity products are designed to be simple and transparent – so you can get on with running your business.
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StreetHub, a UK-founded network for independent retailers, has secured a £1.7m investment from Octopus, Index and angel investors, which has allowed the business to embark on a rebrand under the new guise of Trouva.
The shadow business secretary spoke to Real Business at the launch of Small Business Saturday 2015, providing details on his ambitious aims for the annual day and why the event is instrumental in helping companies of all sizes prosper.
The initial response to Amazon's new Prime Day offering a range of deals for its Prime subscribers was lukewarm, but the site announced shoppers bought 398 items every second and a follow-up day would be on the agenda.
Divisional director of retail at i2i Events Group, Louise Young, explores how independent retailers can set their stalls out effectively, and provides advice on things to consider at an early stage.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr – there certainly isn't a shortage of social networks to choose from. However, London-centric AMBAM is trying to fill a void in the UK capital by targeting consumers and connecting them directly to small independent businesses operating in food, fashion, music and more.
Despite the rise of ecommerce, and perceived decline of the high street, a staggering 89 per cent of UK retail still occurs offline. Of this, 50 per cent of home and fashion items are researched online, and then purchased locally, in bricks and mortar shops. This has uniquely positioned Everline Future 50 mobile app StreetHub to help shoppers find products in independent home and fashion boutiques.
Local, small businesses are giving their larger counterparts a run for their money as Britons turn their backs on supermarket chains and multi-national corporations.
The number of independent shops on British high streets has risen every years since 2009 with nearly 16,000 new stores opening in 2013, according to new research by the British Independent Retailers Associations (BIRA) and the Local Data Company (LDC).
