January 28, 2009
High street madness
Story link: High street madness
Well, the UK economy is set to decrease around 3% this year, and the UK high street retailers have already posted disappointing figures for the December/January period, which is usually the best period for revenue figures, so I’d say its looking like a bleak 2009.
With Britain now officially in recession, how are traders on a typical High Street faring? We returned to Southampton’s Shirley High Street to ask our team of shopkeepers a key question about confidence: are you more or less optimistic about your business than you were 12 months ago?
Despite some of stalwart shop names disappearing from High Streets up and down the country in recent weeks, our panel overall remain defiantly optimistic about business prospects for 2009.
ASDA increasing employment
Story link: ASDA increasing employment
ASDA will be in their prime throughout the year, gathering customers from failing and premium stores such as Marks & Spencers and Sainsbury’s.
Maybe that is exactly what they are anticipating, hence why they have increased employment in their outfit by around 7,000.
We are living through one of the greatest financial crises in history - possibly the greatest. The contraction in credit has forced selling in everything.
Supermarket chain Asda will create 7,000 new jobs this year, a spokesman said.
More than half them will be created by the opening of 14 new stores and the planned expansion of 15 existing sites.
January 23, 2009
UK recession hits
Story link: UK recession hits
So many news sources have been suggesting that we have been a recession for quite some time, which is not actually true. A recession is two quarters of negativity within the economy, so now, for the first time since 1991, we are in a recession.
The UK is now in recession for the first time since 1991, official government figures have confirmed.
Gross domestic product fell by 1.5% in the last three months of 2008 after a 0.6% drop in the previous quarter.