According to Michael Ward, the managing director of Harrods, the 173-year-old retailer is falling behind Paris and Milan’s luxury trade subsequent to the UK axing VAT-free shopping.

Paris and Milan are overtaking London’s luxury trade, Michael Ward warns. Speaking to The Telegraph, he claims the decision to stop VAT-free shopping has put tourists off making luxury purchases in Britain’s capital city.

European countries, such as France and Italy, both still allow international shoppers to claim VAT back, yet the UK stopped this following Brexit at the end of 2020. To combat this decline in tourism, Harrods has made efforts to source exclusive designer pieces that aren’t available to shoppers in other European capitals.

Former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng planned to bring VAT-free shopping back in an update during autumn 2022. However, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt went back on this.

Ward urges the government to overturn its tourism strategy as people

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2022 saw TheIndustry.fashion’s podcast channel continue to bring inspiring stories, retail insights, and conversations from fashion’s most influential business leaders. As 2023 approaches, we’ve curated a list of our top 10 podcast picks from 2022.

Erik Torstensson, Co-founder & Chief Creative Officer, FRAME

Founded out of Los Angeles by two Swedish branding experts, then based in London, with no experience in making product, FRAME doesn’t appear to make any sense at all on paper. And yet, from the moment it arrived, the denim market was shaken up for good. And for the better.

In this episode of the In Conversation podcast from TheIndustry.fashion, Erik spoke to Lauretta Roberts about how the brand has always retained clean design as part of its DNA but is now intensely focused on clean manufacturing to having recently launched a new line of denim that uses virtually no water all in its manufacturing process.

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Boxing Day footfall was up by more than a third on the UK’s high streets despite train strikes and the cost-of-living crisis.

Concerns had been raised that strikes and tightening budgets could scare consumers away from shopping destinations on the first day of the sales.

But industry analyst Springboard said data from Monday showed footfall was 38.8% higher than last year.

There were increases across all three key retail destination types compared with the same period in 2021.

On high streets it was up by 44.1%, in shopping centres by 40.4%, and in retail parks by 25.9%.

Central London, which has been hit hard by industrial action by transport unions, saw footfall more than double on Boxing Day. The figure for London was just 7.8% lower than the same day in 2019.

Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard, said a likely factor in the increase was that Boxing Day 2021

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Matalan has announced further details regarding its ongoing sale, confirming that it has “received bids from a number of interested parties”.

The company is currently assessing all the tabled bids. Discussions are also continuing with interested parties and their advisers.

The retailer said that it’s looking to complete the sales process by the end of January 2023 and will provide a comprehensive update to the market at such time.

It added that the ad hoc group of existing First Lien Noteholders, which are represented by Invesco, Man GLG, Napier Park and Tresidor, reconfirmed its commitment to a recapitalisation if necessary.

In a statement, Matalan said: “All transactions under consideration provide for a material reduction of Matalan’s debt.

“The stable and sustainable balance sheet will put the company in a position of financial strength, allowing it to execute on its business plan and deliver its growth strategy. The outcome of the

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Atterley, the online marketplace for premium independent boutiques, has appointed administrators and ceased trading on its website. 

In a statement on its website this morning, Edinburgh-based Atterley announced that Brian Milne and David McGinness of French Duncan have been appointed as joint provisional liquidators.

Commenting on the news, Atterley.com Holdings said: “With deep and sincere regret, staff at Atterley were informed this morning that we will be starting a formal redundancy consultation with them.

“The reason is that some of the shareholders of the business could not justify further investment. This is related to the overall economic climate and in particularly a squeeze on consumer spending, linked to inflationary pressure.

“The four main shareholders of Atterley had invested £1.8 million since April, including over half from [founder] Mike Welch. A bank was appointed to seek external funding or strategic opportunities, and we committed to that process. Last week, it

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December is typically a busy month for the retail sector, with the festive season boosting footfall, new stores and discounts across the UK.

However, the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, rail strikes, postal strikes, and snowy weather presented challenges for both businesses and consumers this month.

Despite challenges, it has been predicted that around £9.21 billion worth of purchases will be made by 103.6 million shoppers during the week before Christmas.

TheIndustry.fashion has curated a list of the all the retail stores that have opened this month, as well as a number of partnerships from brands including ASOS, Inditex and Scotch & Soda.

Store openings

Marks & Spencer to open at Liverpool ONE

Marks & Spencer announced the opening of a new store at Liverpool ONE in mid-2023. The retailer is relocating from Church Street to create a new 100,000 sq ft store across two floors of the former Debenhams store

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2022 has seen a lot of change in the fashion and retail industry, with several high profile businesses opening new retail locations, incorporating new technology, and refurbishing stores.

As we approach 2023, TheIndustry.fashion has curated a list of the top ten important updates and openings from the past year. Each headline directs to further information on the appointment.

2022 // Battersea Power Station

Battersea Power Station

Battersea Power Station opens to the public

Nearly 40 years after the London icon turned its lights off, Battersea Power Station reopened in October, opening to the public for the first time. Visitors are free to explore the restored landmark and enjoy the first of its unique shops, bars, restaurants and leisure venues.

Electric Boulevard, a new pedestrianised high street, running between Gehry Partners’ Prospect Place to the Zone 1 London Underground Station, also opened.

One notable store opening was Zara’s new flagship store. The tech-driven store, which at

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Fashion retail has been tested beyond reasonable limits in 2023. A cost of living crisis, supply chain strife, rising costs, war, strikes and extreme weather have wreaked havoc on a market that was still reeling from a global pandemic that forced lengthy store closures and fundamentally changed the way people lived and worked (and therefore the way they shopped and dressed).

A number of big names disappeared from our high street altogether during the pandemic but the fall-out provided plenty of opportunity for the more financially and operationally stable businesses in the market. After a flurry of M&A activity in 2021, 2022 proved equally as interesting and already the seeds have been sown for more high profile deals in 2023.

Below we round up for some of the most significant moves of the past 12 months (most of them involved Frasers Group!) and take a look ahead at what we

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2022 has seen a lot of change in the fashion and retail industry, with several high profile businesses changing leaders, appointing new executives, and launching new strategies.

As we approach 2023, TheIndustry.fashion has curated a list of the most important appointments from the past year. Each headline directs to further information on the appointment.

Matchesfashion appoints former ASOS chief Nick Beighton as CEO

In July 2022, the luxury online fashion destination named former ASOS CEO Nick Beighton has its new CEO. Beighton took over from Paolo de Cesare, the former Printemps Group president who was appointed CEO 10 months prior.

Talking about his appointment, Beighton said: “Using technology, product, logistics and culture, I have helped disrupt existing consumer patterns and galvanise change in organisations and I hope to bring these skills to my new role.”

Joe Browns appoints ex-JD Sports COO Peter Alecock as CEO

Yorkshire-based fashion and homeware retailer

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Following months of consistent negative growth against a backdrop of continued challenges, including the cost-of-living crisis and postal strikes, Black Friday “brought retailers a small sigh of relief”.

According the IMRG Capgemini Sales Index, retailers collectively defied the odds and achieved +0.7% year-on-year growth in November. While that figure is low and suggests some customer hesitancy, it marks the first moment of positive-territory growth in the index since April 2021.

Traffic to online retail sites peaked at +2.7% year-on-year in the week commencing 13 November 2022, predominantly owed to early Black Friday activations, which were particularly strong across beauty, home and electrical products. However, there was a decline in traffic in the week commencing 20 November, at -6.1% year-on-year, signalling customers’ response to early campaigning.

As predicted, the number of retailers launching Black Friday campaigns was higher this year. However, the early activations did not deliver increased revenue. When comparing

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