Retail

Credit can be used to offset future bills as full-year losses at UK division widen to £41.3m and it adds 92 storesStarbucks’s UK retail arm received a £13.7m corporation tax credit last year, even as its sales increased 6% and it added more than 90 stores.The credit, which can be used to offset future tax bills, comes after losses widened to £41.3m in the 12 months to the end of September – almost matching the £40m it paid in royalty and licence fees to its parent company. Continue reading...

Shop workers’ union Usdaw says 59% of its members in its annual survey said they would welcome more security guards in stores Retail workers have called for more security guards in stores after a Waitrose worker was sacked for taking matters into his own hands and confronting a shoplifter.Waitrose has been criticised over its treatment of Walker Smith after the Guardian reported he was fired two days after he stopped a shoplifter taking items from an Easter egg display, including Lindt chocolate bunnies. Continue reading...

Jason Tarry sees salary increase by 21% in year to January, while fewer people are employed at John Lewis and Waitrose storesThe boss of the group that owns John Lewis and Waitrose was handed a 21% increase in basic pay last year to £1.2m while the retailer cut 3,300 jobs.Jason Tarry, who became chair of the John Lewis Partnership (JLP) in September 2024, saw his annual salary increase by a fifth to £1.2m in the year to January, from £990,000. Continue reading...

Elon Musk’s aerospace to AI company will host summer event to try to convince buyers it is worth $2 trillionBusiness live – latest updatesSpaceX will kick off the marketing for its highly anticipated stock exchange debut by hosting an event in June for 1,500 retail investors, as executives set out to convince buyers that the aerospace-to-artificial-intelligence group should be valued at $2 trillion.In an unusual move, the company has earmarked a large portion of its shares – potentially up to 30% – for non-professional, non-institutional investors, banking on the popularity of its chief executive, Elon Musk, to help it raise $75bn (about £56bn) in what is expected to be the largest public offering in history. Continue reading...

Bosses write to home secretary and London mayor listing series of incidents staff have faced in past week Marks & Spencer has called on the government and London’s mayor to crack down on retail crime, saying it has become “more brazen, more organised and more aggressive”, after reporting an increase in shoplifting and violence at its stores.The M&S chief executive, Stuart Machin, has written to the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, and its retail director, Thinus Keeve, has written to the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, saying greater resources are needed for police to tackle the crime effectively and target repeat offenders and crime hotspots. Continue reading...

• A benchmark report surveying over 200 CISOs ranks AI as the top cybersecurity concern at 71%. • Security budgets in retail and hospitality sectors increased modestly from 0.57% to 0.75% of revenue. • AI-driven threats are ushering a new era of risk, prompting heightened investment in defenses.

More than half of roles could be hit and young shop workers in particular could lose out, trade body warnsMore than half of retail jobs could be affected by reform to guaranteed working hours, making it harder for shops to employ people – particularly young workers – in part-time roles, the industry’s lobby group has warned.From April, the Employment Rights Act will introduce new protections for workers on sick pay, sexual harassment, parental leave and trade union recognition. Continue reading...

Trade body attends meeting with Rachel Reeves, hours after saying it was pulling out over suggestions of price gouging• Watchdog puts UK fuel retailers ‘on notice’ over profiteering from Iran warThe trade body for the UK’s petrol station industry has got into a row with the government after claiming the “inflammatory language” used by ministers to describe rising pump prices may have incited abuse against forecourt staff.The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) said ministers had for several days suggested that forecourts might be “price gouging” and “ripping off” motorists as global oil markets have surged in response to the war in Iran. Continue reading...