Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, it did.
Thomas Cook went into liquidation … Ted Baker swung from a £24.5m profit to a £23m LFL loss for the 28 weeks to August 10 … and even Aldi, with its outstanding track record of growth, saw increased levels of competition which hit operating and pre-tax profits.
Despite the sector’s travails, there are bright spots evidencing continued (and ‘smart’) investment. Retail Week recently ran a survey benchmarking the UK’s top retailers’ digital prowess. Unsurprisingly, Amazon came out top due to its strength in logistics and ecommerce. H&M – having invested heavily in digital, logistics, and technology – came second. This is an impressive performance when one considers they were 18th last year!
Norman Broadbent plc (LON:NBB) is a leading Professional Services firm offering five interrelated Talent Acquisition & Advisory Services: Board & Leadership/Executive Search, Senior Interim Management, Research & Insight, Leadership Consulting & Assessment, and executive level Recruitment Solutions.