JULY TRADE NEWS Independent retailers are working hard to keep prices down Summer sales fail to help independent retailers Retailers resist pressure to go out of business Wholesaler praises Exeter's transport links Online system revealed to help local retailers Rural post office alternative does not have the funding to help businesses Independent retailers 'set to benefit from online sales boom' Suffolk market town to be transformed with new high street retail development Independent electric retailers struggle as sales slow Couple reveal joys of independent retailing Retail sales slump after May’s blip Small businesses urged to reduce energy usage Independents prepare for 3rd Vodafone boycott Government plans welcomed by retailers Independent booksellers join forces to compete Better training for retail workers Large firms take advantage of small wholesalers Sheffield authorities donate fake goods to overseas charity Economic downturn prompts calls for business rent change Falling sales hit business confidence CCTV 'can help retailers improve sales' Wholesaler uses government system to measure environmental impact Bosses 'don't feel they can take holidays' Niche service 'helped new business compete with national wholesalers' Midlands village ditches plastic bags Post office closures 'will hurt local retailers' eBay wins US court case over fake jewellery Retailers and residents join forces to protest new supermarkets Retail sales dip in June Retailer blames supplier after fake goods conviction Independent retailers boycott Vodafone Small business owners 'plan to stick with their companies for many years' Small businesses would have welcomed rate cut Businesses 'not surprised by rate hold' FSB calls for support for local retailers Small retailers 'increasingly face court over grey market goods' Around the world in a tea daze Politicians urged to always consider the smallest businesses Report warns small businesses fear recession Government looks to alter planning law to protect small retailers Small businesses are 'saving to guard against recession' UK sites handle £800m worth of fake goods every year Lack of disposable income 'could affect' retailers Yorkshire police link fake goods with drug trade Northern Irish retailers to fight Tesco plan UK business 'understand the importance of a good internet presence' Buggy manufacturers make it hard for retailers to sell online British consumers 'happy to buy fake goods' Kew retailers stop offering plastic bags More retailers 'will go bust this year' Welsh officials educate public on fake goods Attempts to save Devon post offices UK businesses threatened by rising fraud   Trade News Archive July 08 June 08 May 08 April 08 March 08 February 08 January 08 Subscribe to our newsletter   Go to The Wholesaler UK Directory 2nd July 2008 More retailers 'will go bust this year' A new report has warned that more businesses than expected will go bust this year and that retailers are likely to be particularly badly hit. The Independent has reported that credit insurance giant Euler Hermes has said that about 23,400 businesses will declare themselves insolvent in 2008, between 18 and 20 per cent more than did so in 2007. Previously, the firm had suggested that insolvencies would rise by only eight per cent this year. However, it said that a reduction in available credit, rising inflation and falling consumer demand would all hit businesses hard. In an interview with the paper, UK chief executive Fabrice Desnos said that retailers were likely to struggle. "Supply and demand have been hit quite strongly in all directions. The supply of credit has reduced dramatically and essentially from banks," he explained. "Definitely retail and construction are the ones we are most concerned about. And it is the companies around these sectors, such as in haulage, that will [also] be hit." Euler Hermes provides cover for many of the UK's retailers. It also "provides cover to tens of thousands of suppliers to trade with non-food retailers", the paper concluded.   (c) 2008 Adfero Ltd.   Comment on this news story To comment on any story please click on the above link, put the story title in the subject line and please provide your name, trading style ie. retailer or wholesaler and the town where you trade.