#uk-retail

#uk-retail

Software company Stratacache announced its winding-up and appointed liquidators on Wednesday, according to insolvency filings. This comes only months after the US digital screen specialist partnered with budget supermarket giant Iceland to roll out cutting-edge sensor-based tech across its stores. The partnership saw Stratacache's "Walkbase" technology equipped to 766 of Iceland 's stores, which uses sensors to measure how many people see the digital advert.

Franchisees have had to put prices up. We've worked really hard not to do that, but we've had some significant incremental cost flow through the employment changes that came through. A lot of brands have really pulled back - they've either put their prices up massively or they've pulled back on their service. I think we've got the balance right in terms of how we've approached it.

Private equity giant Carlyle has thrown a £150m lifeline to online retailer Very - just as mounting debt threatens to sink the company. Sources say the refinancing deal will keep Very afloat, giving breathing space to a business grappling with sky-high borrowing costs, fierce competition, and a cash-strapped consumer market. An insider commented: "Without this deal, Very could have faced serious trouble. Carlyle is betting big to save its investment - the stakes couldn't be higher."

Over 200,000 UK small businesses now generate revenue through TikTok Shop-representing a doubling since this time last year. This surge culminated in Black Friday 2025 becoming TikTok Shop's highest-grossing day ever in UK history, with entrepreneurs selling 27 items every single second. The platform now hosts over 6,000 live shopping events daily across the UK, creating real-time revenue opportunities. Notable retailers such as Marks & Spencer, Samsung, QVC, Clarks, and Sainsbury's are now selling their wares on the site's e-commerce service.

New figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) show overall retail sales rose by just 1.2% in December compared with a year earlier - well below the 12-month average growth rate of 2.3%. While food sales proved resilient, demand for non-food items such as clothing, electronics and gifting products fell flat at the most critical time of the year. Non-food sales slipped by 0.3% year on year in December, a sharp reversal from the 4.4% growth recorded in the same month in 2024.

The upmarket fashion retailer LK Bennett is on the brink of collapse for the second time in six years after filing an application to appoint administrators. Court filings show the business submitted papers to the High Court on Tuesday, signalling that efforts to secure fresh funding or a buyer may have failed. The move puts around 280 jobs at risk across the group.

'The sad truth is that many of Britain's favourite smaller retailers are very unlikely to see their final profits rise by even 3% and, in fact, their prospects for Black Friday are increasingly dark. Such is the competition and the scale of the discounts offered by major retailers that smaller regional and specialist sellers are finding their profit margins stretched to the limit in order to remain competitive.

US tariffs will negatively impact our businesses' profitability. We are considering how we, as associations, and the UK government could best support businesses at this time.