News

Caroline Gordon, director of the Kitchen Kapers cookshop chain, has been elected president of the British Independent Retailers Association.

With just six weeks to go until Exclusively Housewares 2012 gets underway, the organisers say visitors can expect to see several new key market trends emerging.

Independent retailers produced their best quarter of growth since 2007, according to BIRA's sales monitor for the first three months of this year.

Grunwerg has named its new sales representative for the north.

While celebrity chefs have spent years on a mission to make cooking more popular and accessible, young consumers still lack basic culinary skills.

The outlook for UK retailers has never been bleaker, with the health of the industry expected to worsen to record levels before any signs of recovery.

The new man in charge of the Kitchen & Dining sectors at Spring Fair International and Autumn Fair International says he is making customer care his priority.

The Leekes home department store chain has secured a £25m re-financing deal that will be used in part to fund the opening of a new flagship store in Coventry this year.

La Cafetière's John Jackson - who has been instrumental in doubling the company's sales over the past few years - has been promoted to managing director of the company.

Katie Smith of Cooking Marvellous in Shrewsbury has been named the Cookshop & Housewares Association Young Retailer of the Year for 2012.