News & Blog

Explore industry insights, merchandising tips, installation practices, project management, trends, regulations, company news and success stories.

Is the high street hotting up?

Who said the high street was dead? With soaring temperatures in the UK, the public is shunning their computers and phones and heading to the Great British high street to part with their hard-earned cash.

According to the latest CBI Distributive Trades Survey, 32% of retailers said that sales volumes were up in July than compared to a year ago and 13% said they had to place more orders with suppliers as a result. A combination of the unusually nice weather (does this weather even belong in the UK?) and World Cup fever have been thanked for the boost in high street sales this July, which also saw 45% of motor traders report that sales volumes were up compared to this time last year (convertible anyone?).

These figures should be seen as a huge positive for the high street, especially following the results from the survey campaign #WDYT (What do you think?) which found consumers want more and better shops available to them. The survey, which was completed by 300,000 people, found that 78% of respondents worry about the high street and 70% are concerned about shops closing – proving that the public still back “popping into town” to do their shopping.

All the positives do come with negatives though – in the same CBI Survey, retailers reported that they expect sales to slow again in August and orders to flatten out. With subdued real wage growth, households are still feeling the financial pinch and retailers are still battling with the reduced costs online retailers are able to offer.

Along with the Government’s inquiry into high streets and town centres 2030 to examine how local areas are planning for the future of their high streets, this month’s results should be seen as a step in the right direction to securing the future of the British high street.

Meet the team: Richard Jones

Meet Richard Jones – Operations Manager

Tell us about your role at Bluestones One I have been with Bluestones One for three years. I first started on the shop floor (in the field) where I would travel the country meeting new people and completing a variety of projects. I then moved into the resource team where my role was to put teams together for various clients, this involved making sure the skill set was right. I was also responsible for making sure the accommodation is right and making sure that we, as a business, got the basics right and the teams had the right tools to deliver the best service. I am now currently the Operations Manger which means I now have my own team within the office and manage colleagues in the field. This role also includes interaction with clients to ensure they have the faith in the business to consistently deliver their requirements. I have been in retail for over 20 years now and I have enjoyed every minute of it, the different places and challenges that the job role brings. There is no better job satisfaction than knowing our colleagues in the field deliver a high standard of service to our clients and

Read more »
Scroll to Top