Spar (UK) regains top spot in Top 25 UK drinks retail websites

Brought to you by Retailinsider.com and Cookie Reports It has been a very lively December for drinks retailers with significant movement in the table of the Top 25 UK’s leading drinks retailing websites compared with the very subdued November. Six businesses held the same positions in the table this month compared with a hefty 12…

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Insiders’ View of the world of headhunting

‘Excerpts from the life of a head-hunter’ working in the leisure/hospitality/retail sectors. [Unfortunately such is the sensitivity of the head-hunting profession that it is rarely possible that the names of the Insiders’ clients can be divulged] Near the scene of unexpected meetings June Unexpected meeting request An email came from a chief executive’s PA wishing…

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Innovative Retailer – Cook

Brought to you by Retailinsider.com and PCMS The Name: Cook The Place: 65 stores dotted around the country and its products stocked in lots of farm shops The Story: Here’s a tip – don’t call co-founder Edward Perry’s headquarters in Kent a factory. He won’t like it. The place where his top of the range…

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Movers & Shakers Q&A with Kevin Hanley

Brought to you by Retailinsider.com and K3 Retail Kevin Hanley, operations director at Direct Wines Group (Laithwaite’s) 1. What is the greatest opportunity for your business? We’re incredibly fortunate to have a very loyal customer base. They value our total focus on making, sourcing and delivering the most exciting and affordable wine that we can.…

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Taking up the challenge of building multi-channel model

German-based multi-channel electricals retailer Gravis is offering discounted prices to special interest groups and companies via password-accessed micro-sites in order to counter the low prices of its online-only rivals.   Germany’s Gravis: stores only part of the mix For this retailer of Apple products it is a key development in fighting the challenge from pure-play online…

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Small retailers bear brunt of payment card charges

Some interesting documents have fallen across the desk of Retailinsider.com this past couple of weeks that have highlighted how small retailers are being given an increasingly hard time by their banks. The way the banks like to keep it The first came from a small merchant, with annual revenues of less than £1 million, which…

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Retail Species – The ‘entrepreneur with friends’

The Person: Georgie Douthwaite The Company: Vinnie & D The Job Title:  Director The Story: If starting a business with a friend was easy there would be no need for the hundreds of forums offering advice on the subject on the internet. But despite this an awful lot of people do it and among that…

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Innovative Retailer – Unpackaged

Brought to you by Retailinsider.com and PCMS The Name: Unpackaged The Place: The Arthaus Building, Hackney, London E8 The Story: It all started on a market stall on Broadway Market  in 2006 where founder Catherine Conway had the idea of eliminating  packaging on food stuffs and encouraging her customers to bring their own containers. But…

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Top 25 Drinks Retail Websites prepare for Christmas

Brought to you by Retailinsider.com and Cookie Reports In the surest sign yet that retailers are keeping their powder dry in preparation for Christmas, an unprecedented 13 companies retain the same positions as last month in the table of the Top 25 UK’s leading drinks retailing websites for November. This compares to only five retailers…

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Guest Slot – Analysis Insider – Sarah Wilson

Cafe Lucca is a modern Italian restaurant serving tea, coffee, cakes, salads and light lunches, but its secret ingredient is a focus on odourless food. Food at Cafe Lucca: Looking good without the smell. The reason for this unusual slant is the location of the restaurant – slap bang in the middle of a lifestyle…

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Movers & Shakers Q&A with Sean McKee

Brought to you by Retailinsider.com and K3 Retail Sean McKee, head of e-commerce and customer services at Schuh 1. What is the greatest opportunity for your business? We have a number of terrific growth opportunities for the business – the key questions really are which order, how much, timing and to work out where sales…

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