Former Hobbs finance director Loraine Woodhouse is to become a non-executive director of Associated British Foods (ABF), parent of highly successful retailer Primark, effective from 1 October.

​Primark owner Associated British Foods delivered a trading update for its full business on Thursday and said revenue at its retail division is expected to be up around 4% in H2. The second half ends on 14 September.

Fabien Versavau, formerly of Rakuten France, has joined La Redoute as its new CEO. He succeeds Philippe Berlan, who stepped down in July after more than two years at the helm.

​The British Fashion Council’s City Wide Celebration (CWC) will feature over a thousand events this month as it marks the 40th anniversary of London Fashion Week.

The Beetlejuice sequel seems to be having big impact on the fashion sector with Primark becoming the latest to release a collection on several fronts linked to the movie. 

​Brand Institute Group A/S has a new co-owner with MS2 Invest stepping in. Brand Institute controls Northern Europe’s largest modelling agency, Le Management, as well as Danish jewellery company Lié Studio.

UK general consumer spending and specific retail sales moved up in August, two reports showed on Tuesday, but there was both good and bad news for fashion.

Liverpool One has become the UK’s first retail destination to introduce two new schemes to improve accessibility for all its visitors.

Richemont’s British luxury house Dunhill has extended its partnered with with modern and contemporary art platform Frieze Masters until 2026. 

A re-commerce revolution is sweeping the UK. Now worth £7 billion annually, over a third of consumers are embracing secondhand shopping, according to a ShipStation survey. 

UK retail continued to underperform in August, a new report showed on Friday. The BDO High Street Sales Tracker said total sales (stores and online) in discretionary retail categories increased by just 0.7% this month.

Commercial property giant Grosvenor has refinanced a £552 million section of its £1.1 billion revolving credit facility (RCF).

It was only a matter of time… digital gift cards have overtaken physical cards for the first time in the UK. 

In a month typically dominated by summer getaways, retail footfall in August thankfully didn’t take a break. Visits to UK retail destinations rose, albeit by just 0.9% month-on-month and by 0.1% year-on-year.

Bath & Body Works cut its annual sales forecast on Wednesday, a sign of weaker demand for its pricey products such as fragrances and scented candles in the face of still-high inflation.

UK retail sales remained weak throughout the summer and the outlook remains soft, according to new figures. But the picture seems to be easing, the latest CBI monthly Distributive Trades Survey showed.