​UK inflation has risen again, a sign that we’re not out of the woods yet and consumer activity is still being hurt by surging prices with fashion prices rising faster than they've done in over a decade.

The West End of London’s local authority has called for a much stricter economic crime bill and reform of business rates to officially bring a halt to American-style candy stores that continue to “litter” Oxford Street.

​TK Maxx’s ambitious London expansion plans have seen the fashion and homewares retailer striking a key flagship store deal. It will open in Westfield London this autumn in the former Debenhams store. 

​Frasers Group’s well-documented commitment to physical retail has taken a big step forward with the company buying a shopping centre – The Mall in Luton -- for £58 million.

Pricing website BlackCurve has secured an additional £750,000 in new funding, bringing its total raised to £3.7 million, to fund expansion into core online markets.

​M&S is reportedly ready to dive even deeper into selling external fashion brands alongside its own label in a move that would take it even closer to a traditional department store model.

​John Lewis Partnership (JLP) has moved fast with reassurances that any outside investor s brought in won’t mean the end of the firm’s employee ownership model as criticism of what’s not even a definite plan has begun.

Gen Z culture and wellness destination Woo has appointed Callum Mullin as its first Fashion Editor-at-Large, with the fashion writer, model and social media star joining the “genre-defining platform”.

Not so many years ago, John Lewis was unstoppable while M&S was in an endless turnaround phase. Today, the situation has reversed and John Lewis is even reportedly thinking of changing its prized ownership structure.

Ryo Matsumura, head of Rakuten Fashion, tells FashionNetwork.com about the Japanese e-commerce giant's projects. Sponsor of Tokyo Fashion Week, the platform intends to support and promote Japanese design.

Over half a million UK-wide workers striking on Wednesday was always going to be a massive challenge for retail. And latest figures showed related footfall dipped greatly, according to insight from MRI Springboard.

​When a results release starts with a message to the staff talking about “another very tough year”, you know it’s not going to be good and so it was with John Lewis Partnership on Thursday.

Liverpool One has begun 2023 where it left 2022… on a high. The city centre mall has bucked national trends since the start of the year, with a 16.5% uplift in sales compared to the same period in 2022.

The Spring Budget on Wednesday was never likely to deliver anything big for retail and it lived down to expectations. The industry welcomed some positive general developments but lamented the lack of flagship measures.

​It’s a big news week for John Lewis with its results due Thursday and a new concept store layout unveiled Tuesday. And Wednesday? Just the small matter of a new CEO.

​H&M Group delivered its provisional Q1 sales report on Wednesday and said sales in the three months to February rose a healthy 12% to SEK54.9 billion (€4.3bn/£4.9bn/$5.2bn).