HMV, rail fares increase, Next and John Lewis: your commercial news round-up
updated on 03 January 2019
Happy new year! We hope that you had a good Christmas break and that it offered at least a brief respite from work (and worrying about Brexit). Here is a selection of important business news stories that you might have understandably missed while you had a face full of chocolate orange. Take them at face value, or use them as starting points to broaden your commercial awareness of issues affecting the business and legal worlds.
- It was a not-so-merry Christmas for music and entertainment retailer HMV, which announced on 28 December that it had called in administrators after a weak festive trading period. The store previously sank into administration in 2013 before being acquired by present owner Hilco in a £50 million deal. Executive chairman Paul McGowan blamed the rise of digital downloads and the “general malaise” of the high street. The news puts 2,200 employees across 125 UK stores at risk.
- A 3.1% increase in rail fares prompted protests yesterday at train stations across the country. The transport secretary, Chris Grayling, argued that trade unions had caused the increase by demanding “higher pay rises than anyone else”, while the Labour party condemned the increase which outpaces the 2.6% rise in average wages last year and adds hundreds of pounds to some commuters’ season tickets. The good news for millennials is that the new 26-30 railcard went on sale yesterday and will reduce fares by a third.
- Next reported overall sales growth of 1.5% for the last two months of 2018, helped in part by a surge in sales in the last three weeks of December and an increase in web orders. Department store John Lewis also saw a boost to the end of the year, with an 11% rise in sales in the last week of 2018 helped by last-minute shoppers on Christmas Eve.
- In a surprising turn of events, Apple has disclosed that its sales have been slowing after a disappointing last three months of last year. Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, has blamed economic weakness in China for the poor sales forecast, but also admitted that fewer customers chose to upgrade to the newest iPhones than expected. It marks the first time that Apple has revised its guidance to investors in more than 15 years and share prices fell 7% accordingly.
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