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Market Loop - Unexpected jump in Black Friday sales

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28th November 2022

Bite-sized business news from the UK and beyond
Good morning A landmark ruling in France could be good news for anyone who doesn’t like socialising with colleagues. A man has won a pay out from his former employer after he was fired for failing to participate in the company’s “fun” workplace culture with activities he called ‘humiliating and intrusive’.
Today's stories
  • Unexpected jump in Black Friday sales 
  • Strike days on track for 21stC record
RETAIL
Unexpected jump in Black Friday sales 

What happened?
After dire warnings from retail experts, Black Friday sales in the UK unexpectedly grew this year according to bank transaction data.

How did we get here?
Black Friday originated in the US as the day after Thanksgiving when retailers would go back into profit ie ‘black’ by attracting customers with discounted products. The phenomenon was introduced to the UK by Amazon in 2010 before other British retailers joined in with sales reaching over £9bn in 2021.

The cost of living crisis and the looming recession was expected to put a dampener on consumer spending during this year’s event. The England World Cup match on Friday was also forecast to be a major distraction away from shopping.

But data from Barclaycard Payments - which processes a third of all UK card transactions – showed that sales volumes rose 3.8% in the week leading up to Black Friday compared to 2021. Nationwide Building Society also reported that customer purchases had increased by 8% on Black Friday compared to the year before.

Analysts believe that sales volumes may have been helped by consumers shopping early for Christmas in order to budget their finances.

Zooming out: Over 10 years since Black Friday entered the UK retail calendar, its worth to retailers still divides opinion. Supporters say carefully planned promotions allow retailers to boost sales and maintain profit margins. Critics argue the discounts pull forward Christmas sales with reduced profits and undermine consumers' willingness to pay full price.
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  • Energy firms warned over hiking direct debits
  • London fintech poised to begin wave of layoffs as downturn hits buy now pay later sector
  • Primark to open at least four new stores and create 850 jobs
     
ECONOMY
Strike days on track for 21stC record

What happened?
By the end of this year the UK will likely have seen the biggest number of days lost to strikes in this century so far, according to trade unions. British workers across the public and private sectors are striking to win pay increases in line with inflation, currently running at 11%, the highest level for over 40 years.

How did we get here?
Economists forecast that the rising cost of living means that Brits will experience the steepest fall in living standards since records began.

Against this backdrop, 2022 has seen disruption to several industries including transport, education and postal services as thousands of workers downed tools to negotiate better pay, working conditions and pensions. The government and many employers argue they do not have the funds to give inflation matching pay rises. 

In this century, 2011 saw the highest number of days lost to strike action – 1.4m - driven by public sector backlash over austerity cuts from the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government. But this year could top this with growing worker discontent across the UK.

Two of the highest profile sector strikes threaten to grind the country to a halt:
Last week the Royal College of Nursing, which has 300,000 members, said that nurses would hold a strike on two days in December for the first time in the union’s 106-year history. It says it needs to increase nurses’ pay otherwise they will continue to leave the profession in droves putting even more pressure on the NHS during its busy winter period. 

As many as 115,000 of Royal Mail’s staff will strike for 10 days in December adding to the eight already done this year. December’s walkouts will delay post for millions of households and businesses during the peak festive season. Royal Mail announced 10,000 job cuts in October to trim its losses. But bosses say further strike action will add to losses and could lead to even more job cuts.

Zooming out: This winter has been compared to the so-called ‘winter of discontent’ in 1978-9 when there were months of widespread strikes as millions of workers, like today, fought for pay increases during a period of high inflation. The strikes brought misery in freezing temperatures with rubbish piling in the streets and gruesomely, even a gravediggers' strike. However this year still looks tame compared to the 30m days lost during that winter. 
Stat of the day

Brits have cut their energy use by more than 10% since October, according to two of the country’s biggest suppliers
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