Retailers gouging each other over payment-card fees

For many years the retail industry has battled hard against the banks and card schemes, Visa and MasterCard, to try and reduce the level of fees they are charged on every transaction they accept by payment card. Transaction fees: Never quite this obvious. There was a lot of sympathy for their plight – big banks…

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Food manufacturers to sell-direct-to-shoppers is pie in the sky

Apparently 27% of food and grocery manufacturers would consider building an online store to sell direct to shoppers. Manufacturers and selling online is not a grey area.  According to research from grocery experts IGD these manufacturers are recognising the need to engage directly with their shoppers online. I’m not sure whether this reflects well or badly on the…

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Guest Slot – Recruitment Insider-Nigel Sapsed

It was a big night for some of the smaller operators at the recent Retailers’ Retailer of the Year Awards in London when the efforts of the great and the not-quite-so-great of the industry were voted on by their peers and contemporaries. Drake & Morgan (four units) and Grand Union Group (12 units) both took…

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Simple brands stand out

You may recall the brouhaha earlier in the year over Starbucks changing its logo to a simplified, less cluttered version. Out went its name and the word ‘coffee’ from its famous green mermaid-like logo. The evolution of a brand from cluttered to clean. Much of the fuss was over the question of whether people would still recognise…

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Tour around the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel

There have been many articles written and photos published of the almost newly-restored hotel at London’s St Pancras station in recent weeks but they do little justice to the building once you actually get inside it. It might be a big building but it’s all about the small details. Compared with all other leisure-related buildings – hotels, restaurants, shops and…

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