DECEMBER TRADE NEWS eBay sellers urged to identify wholesalers Rise in minimum wage would hurt small retailers Consumers eager for Boxing Day sales Fake clothing & fashions pair sentenced Independent stores receive late-December boost Oxfam troubled by lack of donations Many retail chains could collapse in New Year Rosebys collapse affects Manchester wholesalers Working hours ruling affects small retailers Last-minute shoppers 'rescuing stores' Slowdown could hurt Irish retail New figures show November sales rise BRC helps small retailers with rent agreements January 5th set as Woolworths closing date Pre-Christmas discounts rise to epic proportions Counterfeit DVD seller a Christmas turkey Parking restrictions 'hurt local trade' Councillors block Tesco store plan Inflation squeezing small retailers Cardiff's historic arcades 'under threat' Grim London sales 'beginning to improve' Rural retailers 'silent victims' this Christmas New JK Rowling title 'in short supply' 700 jobs lost at CD and DVD wholesaler Smoking display refits to cost small firms thousands Tobacco ruling could adversely affect small shops 2009 tough but there are reasons for optimism Buyer on the horizon for books wholesaler? Woolworths struggling to find buyer, facing closure Troubled book wholesaler 'praised by independents' Online shopping soars on 'Mega Monday' Consumers taking advantage of sales Support for independent retailers encouraged Rogue eBay trader fined £500k and jailed for a year Pedestrianisation plans opposed by retailers Shoppers to maximise use of internet this Christmas Local retailers band together in face of adversity Counterfeit consoles flooding UK Wholesaler collapse stalls internet sales for Zavvi Retailers warned of business rates 'stealth tax' Customer care vital to online sales Internet revenue to increase 10% this Christmas Toys and games wholesaler collapses Retailers losing out from VAT cut Small supplier battling the big guns Little hope for Christmas shopping boost New factory benefits batteries wholesaler Admin costs of VAT cut hurting small retailers Dragon ponders bid for Woolworths Trade News Archive 2008  December   November   October   September August   July   June   May   April   March   February   January Subscribe to our newsletter   Go to The Wholesaler UK Directory 17th December 2008 Parking restrictions 'hurt local trade' Parking restrictions are denting crucial Christmas trade in many of the UK's town and village high streets. That is the warning issued by the Forum of Private Business (FPB), which cited recent research by MPs advising that the majority of Britain's small retailers could disappear by 2015 if they are not helped through the recession. With sales falling in October and November - the first back-to-back monthly fall in 14 years - the FPB implored local authorities to relax car parking restrictions in order to encourage more trade for struggling retailers. "Restrictions to trade at this important time of the year are last thing that struggling small retailers need," said Phil Orford, chief executive of the body. "Expensive parking charges and insufficient waiting times will only drive people away from our town centres and into the hands of large, often out-of-town chains, which can offer free parking." Last week, shop owners in Loughborough expressed their discontent at council plans to pedestrianise the area and replace a car park in Bedford Square with a seating area. (c) 2008 Comment on this news story