George Arnett

London

Freelance Journalist at Freelance

Journalist. Formerly data editor @VogueBusiness, data journalist @Guardian.

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Articles

Six major predictions for the next decade of retail

3 days ago | retail-week.com | George Arnett

Source: GettyImages/iStock/Kenneth Cheung With the rapid development of Generative AI and AI more generally, everyone in the sector wants to know what it will mean for retail A new report by management consultancy firm Bain, shared exclusively with Retail Week, says that new technology and underlying trends mean there are six major shifts that will likely happen over the next decade.
Consumer confidence has not recovered since Brexit vote, says Barclays

3 days ago | retail-week.com | George Arnett

Source: GettyImages/iStock/Philip Openshaw Despite the dent in consumer confidence, Brits have continued to make room for discretionary spending priorities, with travel and beauty continuing to rise in recent years. The data comes from a review by Barclays covering 10 years of its Consumer Spending Report, which draws data from spending on Barclaycard and the bank’s debit cards.
Chart: How retailers should approach the Nintendo Switch 2 launch

4 days ago | retail-week.com | George Arnett

Chart: How retailers should approach the Nintendo Switch 2 launch By George Arnett2025-06-04T10:00:00 June 5 marks the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, the most anticipated video game console release in years
New owner for Northern Ireland shopping centre near Belfast

5 days ago | retail-week.com | George Arnett

New owner for Northern Ireland shopping centre near Belfast By George Arnett2025-06-03T06:46:00 Property firm NewRiver announced that it had sold the Abbey Centre in Newtownabbey to the Herbert Group of Companies. The 320,000 sq ft shopping centre six miles north of Belfast was sold in an off-market transaction for £58.8m.
M&S CEO Stuart Machin sees pay reach £7m pre cyber attack

5 days ago | retail-week.com | George Arnett

M&S CEO Stuart Machin sees pay reach £7m pre cyber attack By George Arnett2025-06-03T06:16:00 The chief executive’s pay package increased by nearly 40% in the last financial year, according to the retailer’s latest annual report. Machin’s rising remuneration was mostly driven by the awarding of company shares, with the chief executive receiving £4.5m.
Chart: Grocery price inflation hits highest level since early 2024

1 week ago | retail-week.com | George Arnett

Chart: Grocery price inflation hits highest level since early 2024 By George Arnett2025-05-28T11:09:00 Kantar figures showed grocery prices went up by 4.1% year on year in the four weeks to May 18, the highest increase since February 2024 “This latest jump in grocery price inflation takes us into new territory for 2025,” said Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar.
Q&A: Zendesk CEO and CTO on UK market, cyber attacks and what AI means for retail

1 week ago | retail-week.com | George Arnett

Source: Zendesk Zendesk is one of the world’s leading customer service platforms, currently wielded by major UK retailers including Tesco, Next and Lush. With labour costs increasing and generative AI features improving, much has been made of the potential for AI to help retailers increase automation, improve customer experiences and ultimately bolster their margins.
Pepco says Poundland exit 'expected' by September

2 weeks ago | retail-week.com | George Arnett

Pepco says Poundland exit ‘expected’ by September By George Arnett2025-05-22T06:57:00 European discount group Pepco is expecting to offload the Poundland business by September. In a statement released alongside its first-half financial results, the company said the “board continues to actively explore separation options for the Poundland business with an exit expected by the end of FY25”.
M&S site back online after maintenance shutdown

2 weeks ago | retail-week.com | George Arnett

M&S site back online after maintenance shutdown By George Arnett2025-05-22T06:17:00 Marks & Spencer’s website is back online after the BBC reported a service outage on Wednesday evening. Shoppers have been unable to make online orders since the Easter weekend due to the fallout from a cyber attack but could still browse M&S’ store catalogue.
'Tough retail climate' sees Very UK revenue decline in third quarter

2 weeks ago | retail-week.com | George Arnett

‘Tough retail climate’ sees Very revenue decline By George Arnett2025-05-22T06:51:00 Very UK saw revenue fall 2.5% in the 39 weeks to March 29, 2025, despite a strong increase in sales for its home category. In its results presentation, Very said the sales decline was the “result of a tough retail climate across the UK”.