Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Exclusive: Closing doors for Oddbins

Published: 10 November, 2023

Following reported mass store closures across much of its portfolio this week, Oddbins appears to have folded the bricks and mortar part of its business.

The Wine Yard, Surrey’s newest drink-in/take-home bolthole

Published: 30 August, 2022

Just over 40 miles from London, Farnham’s new watering hole, The Wine Yard, has become part of the regeneration that is taking place in the UK’s satellite towns. During Covid, many places felt the wrath of the virus and its various mitigation measures, with lockdowns leaving shop and restaurant fronts empty along what were once the more bustling parts of the nation’s high streets.

Q&A: Sam Owens, founder, Thirsty Cambridge

Published: 24 August, 2020

With his iconoclastic and straight-talking approach, Sam Owens walks Andrew Catchpole through life as a moreishly modern indie

M&S job losses signal shift towards flexible working, online and food

Published: 18 August, 2020

M&S has announced it will cull 7,000 members of staff as the company shifts resources towards areas that are expanding, while decreasing resources in the home and clothing departments.

Casual Dining Group files for administration

Published: 19 May, 2020

Casual Dining Group (CDG), owner of high street brands including Café Rouge, Bella Italia and Las Iguanas, is seeking to appoint administrators.

Retail sales fall for longest period since 2011

Published: 26 July, 2019

Retail sales fell for the third consecutive month in the year to July, marking the longest period of decline since 2011, according to the latest CBI monthly Distributive Trades Survey.

Wet-led businesses helping high street to recover from “poisonous cocktail” of regulatory costs

Published: 19 July, 2019

Renewed investor interest is improving the health of a malnourished high street – driven mostly by wet-led venues, a group of suppliers and industry leaders were told this morning.

BRC reports ‘staggering’ fall in retail sales

Published: 04 June, 2019

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has recorded the biggest sales decline on record and warned the issues facing UK high streets require “urgent attention”.

Bars and restaurants set to ‘save the high street’

Published: 08 October, 2018

The bar and restaurant scene has been predicted as key in preventing the decline of the high street, with 92% of councils believing night-time economy will play an “important role”, according to new research.