Plimsoll

Last week the American Retail giant Toys R Us, Inc filed for bankruptcy in North America to help restructure its debts.

Following our ealier blog which has looked at The Curious Case of the Casual Dining Industry, we have taken a further look at the UK Restaurants industry. 

Grain Merchant Wellgrain Ltd went into administration earlier this month owning at least £15m to almost 300 creditors.

With house prices struggling for growth, interest rate worries possibly dampening demand and the ongoing dearth of property coming onto the market, it’s certainly going to be an “interesting” 12 months for UK Estate Agents.

Gaucho is the latest UK restaurant chain operator to call in administrators as the consequences of shifting customer preference and oversaturation in the market continues. The group which operates the Gaucho and Cau chains, is the latest high-profile restaurant group to hit troubles, after Prezzo, Jamie's Italian, Byron and Carluccio's all revealed plans to close branches this year.

It is clear that the UK retail market is changing. But before we accept the news that Maplin, Prezzo and New Look are suffering from a brutal winter, let's look at the full picture.

On the back of the news that UK retail sales fell by 0.8% for the month of September, Plimsoll has updated its view on the financial health of the UK’s top 100 High Street Retailers.

Global growth is slowing as trade spats turn into all-out war. Stockpiling for a 29^th March Brexit that never happened are no longer inflating figures. EU companies are swapping supply chains out of the UK in anticipation of a “no deal”. No wonder then that new data is showing that the UK manufacturing sector has contracted significantly in May.