Amid soaring temperatures, it’s fair to say that the UK may have gone a bit mad.
In the past week, we’ve had heated Brexit exchanges, Trump blimps full of hot air flying over Westminster, and England fans in a sweat over their team’s World Cup fortunes.
Amid this long, hot summer, however, a cold front is sweeping in fast – and much like Gareth Southgate’s men, we’ve perhaps taken our eye off the ball a bit when it comes to the nitty-gritty.
Only a couple of months ago, I spoke of the doom and gloom surrounding our high street and retail industry, yet the news just seems to be getting worse.
Since then, top retailers have continued to announce plummeting profits, losses of sales, and even store closures with significant effects for Scottish jobs.
With the announcements all coming from well-known, large national companies, it serves to once again highlight the notion that no company is safe.
Struggling mother and baby products retailer Mothercare says it will shut 60 of its 137 UK stores by next summer, instead of the 50 previously earmarked for closure as it battles against a downturn.
With six large stores across Scotland, Mothercare is unable to give details about which stores will close as it is still talking to the staff affected.
Marks & Spencer’s chairman Archie Norman also warned last week that without radical action there could be no M&S in the future. In May, the high street giant upped its target for store closures by 2022 from 60 to 100, but Norman refused to rule out further store closures and job losses.
Norman said the business is in the first phase of a five-year turnaround that involves first getting the company to acknowledge the serial management failings that have resulted in years of falling clothing sales and declining profits.
A rare bright spot amid the gloom was the success of M&S’s longstanding role as the official tailor of the England football team and purveyor of Gareth Southgate’s now legendary waistcoat, which has become a social media sensation.
Administrators at discount retailer Poundworld have also reported that it has closed 25 stores, resulting in 242 job losses after Deloitte failed to find a buyer for the whole business, which employs more than 5,000 people in 335 stores across the UK.
Poundworld is only one of a string of retailers and restaurant chains that have collapsed or shrunk against the consumer spending squeeze and confidence drop, in the backdrop of higher costs, weaker pound and the growth of online shopping.
At the moment it looks like only the Dumfries store in Scotland has been affected but more are set to close soon.
Of course, it’s no secret that the high street has been suffering with the weak pound and difficult trading environment causing shop closures for many local and national businesses.
Take a look around your local high street – is it a ghost town? I’m betting that it’s not looking healthy and is full of empty units and for sale signs.
It’s not all doom and gloom for the British retailers though, as the travails of the high street do not seem to have hit the progress of budget clothes seller Matalan. The retailer has defied the problems besetting the nation’s high streets to post a surge in profits in the first quarter of its financial year.
It said that its revamped children’s ranges had been particularly popular and its refurbishment programme is also helping to drive better sales in the upgraded shops while online sales rose by 39 per cent.
But the retailer warned conditions in the retail sector were unlikely to improve in the near future, partly due to the impact of the weak pound which has driven up the cost of its products, most of which are manufactured abroad.
Once again we are in limbo with our high streets and I’m sure the business pages will continue to depress us all with retail news. But there is a silver lining from strong retailers taking the risks needed to make a change in the trading environment.
For all that apps can prove really useful, there have been increasing fears of late over how they might be able to invade your privacy.
An American university recently explored the common theory that apps can listen into conversations. It found that although apps can’t turn on your microphone, thousands can record your phone screen and send the information to third parties.
This follows the revelation that many apps store your photos and use the data that can be gleaned from them, such as the locations you’ve visited.
I was therefore delighted to come across the story of a Scottish app which is helping to drive forward dementia research.
MindMate is a free health and lifestyle app aimed at people who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, a brain injury or other forms of cognitive decline.
Users can access a range of activities, including memory training, health tips and workouts and the app is thought to be used by more than one million people worldwide.
The company, which has offices in Glasgow and Los Angeles, has teamed up with an Australian biotech firm to help recruit patients for a pioneering clinical trial.
Actinogen Medical is working on new treatments for people suffering from Alzheimer’s and hopes to prove the effectiveness of the drug Xanamem which inhibits excess production of the stress hormone cortisol in the brain.
I’m very impressed to see MindMate and Actinogen Medical taking a truly innovative approach to conducting a clinical trial and helping to advance dementia research.
It’s a superb example of an app that is dedicated to helping its users rather than spying on them!
Laugh
Shopping centres across Scotland have upped the ante in order to entice customers to visit during this scorching summer we’ve enjoyed.
The Centre in Livingston has launched a daredevil assault course and climbing wall 13m above the ground.
Meanwhile Buchanan Galleries has unveiled a dino-themed summer offering.
It has been transformed into a prehistoric paradise with REXY, the full-size T-Rex skeleton from the Night at the Museum movie, as its centrepiece.
I’m sure Buchanan Galleries will be the place to be this summer for all Jurassic fans with lots to keep the kids entertained including Teen Rex, the adolescent Tyrannosaurus Rex, who will be patrolling the mall.
Gone are the days when shopping centres relied solely on the lure of its big name retailers!
Weep
I was saddened to hear that Anderson Construction (Aberdeen) Ltd had been placed into provisional liquidation – it’s another seismic blow to the north-east.
The company is the third construction firm in the North East to fold in the past couple of weeks after Deveron Homes and Deveron Construction also called in administrators.
The news has resulted in 24 redundancies across the companies with further jobs in jeopardy.
It’s heart-breaking to see long-established companies run into trouble. Challenging market conditions have been blamed for the companies’ financial troubles.
Britain’s oil hub saw house prices fall by up to 20 per cent during the North Sea slump of 2016.
Property experts and large housebuilders operating in the area have reported signs of recovery so here’s hoping we don’t lose further small businesses in the sector.
