All Focus articles – Page 5
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News
Budget 2009: Darling’s credit insurance top-up scheme ‘too little, too late’
Updated: Chancellor Alistair Darling has confirmed that the Government will implement a credit insurance top-up scheme, under which it will match insurance offered by the private sector.
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OpinionKingfisher well placed for future
This year Easter is just one battle in a longer war of attrition between the DIY groups that many believe will end in consolidation.
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News
Clouds lift as steady first quarter cheers retail industry
Mood of cautious optimism emerges that trading conditions are starting to stabilise
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News
DIY chains prepare Easter ad campaigns
DIY retailers are gearing up for the crucial Easter trading period with a series of high-profile marketing campaigns, but trade could be hit by changeable weather.
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News
Hopes grow for Budget action on credit insurance
Retailers are optimistic of being thrown a lifeline in this month’s Budget as speculation mounts that action on the issue of credit insurance could form part of Chancellor Alistair Darling’s plans.
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NewsCredit insurance fury reaches boiling point
Retailers are turning the heat up on the Government to intervene in the credit insurance crisis.
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Analysis
Westminster and the high street: Worlds apart?
Politicians seem to treat retail like the forgotten stepchild of UK industry, but are things improving? George MacDonald reports on the state of retail influence in the corridors of power
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News
Wickes chief warns ‘there isn’t room’ for DIY big four
One of the biggest DIY retailers has warned that the sector is not big enough for the existing four big hitters to survive the recession and has raised the prospect of a price war.
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NewsRetail chiefs call for Government support
Store chiefs have called for decisive government action to support retailers after business secretary Lord Mandelson threw a 2.3bn lifeline to the car industry.
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News
Focus appoints new commercial director
DIY chain Focus has appointed Penny Teale as its commercial director.
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News
Retail rents fall for first time in 15 years
Retail rents fell for the first time in 15 years in 2008 and are not expected to return to growth until 2013.
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News
Focus boss calls on Mandelson to back shift to monthly rents
Bill Grimsey, boss of DIY chain Focus, has written to Business Secretary Lord Mandelson to flag up the “heavy-handed” behaviour of landlords that refuse to grant retailers monthly rents.
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News
Focus value range brings home £1m in first month
DIY retailer Focus has generated sales of more than 1 million from its new value range Payless since launching it four weeks ago.
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News
Focus launches budget range to be ‘Lidl of DIY’
Focus has launched a range of value-priced products as it guns to become the “Lidl of DIY”.
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Opinion
Store design: frugality today, excess tomorrow
The decision by DIY retailer Focus to launch a value-based range last week is symptomatic of a wider trend in retailing at the moment: it’s good to be frugal.
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News
Focus to cut jobs as it forecasts tough year
DIY retailer Focus will slash 15 per cent of its workforce by the end of this month to prepare the business for difficult trading next year.
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AnalysisMalcolm Walker’s magic touch
Malcolm Walker has defied critics with his turnaround of Iceland, but could he do the same with Woolworths? Jennifer Creevy meets him to discover what can be learnt from the chain’s recovery.
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AnalysisSharper Focus: reinventing the DIY retailer
Ailing DIY retailer Focus is being reinvented by its management team. John Ryan visits the first new-look store in Wantage, with chief executive Bill Grimsey and brand director Richard Bird
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News
Focus raises curtain on new store format
Focus has opened its first new-look store since it was bought by Cerberus for 1 last June.
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News
Focus finance director Hoskins resigns
Focus finance director Bill Hoskins has resigned from the business less than a year after being brought in to help save the DIY chain.