Whether you’re selling clothes or baked beans, UK retailing is a tough place to be right now.

Shares in Sports Direct, Britain’s biggest sportswear retailer — which late last year agreed to buy retailer Heatons here — fell almost 6% yesterday after its founder said the company’s profits would fall this year.

Billionaire Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct International made a £43m (€55m) bet on a recovery in Tesco’s share price, days after the biggest UK grocer said it overstated its profit forecast.

Shares in Kingfisher, Europe’s biggest home improvements retailer, fell 6% yesterday as pressure on profit margins and a smaller-than-expected sales boost from warmer weather pushed first- quarter earnings below forecasts.

A £3.7 billion merger between Carphone Warehouse and Dixons is set to be unveiled this week in a move creating a retail giant with 1,300 UK stores.

Tesco sales in Ireland fell by 3% in the first quarter of 2013 as the impact of the horsemeat scandal hit one of Europe’s largest supermarket chains.

Carphone Warehouse called time on its joint venture with US giant Best Buy today after agreeing a cut-price deal to buy back the firm’s 50% stake.

Shares in Marks & Spencer surged today on speculation that the retailer is an £8bn bid target for Middle Eastern investors.

Marks & Spencer’s worst trading performance for three years triggered a boardroom casualty today after its womenswear range failed to strike a chord with shoppers.

Marks & Spencer boss Marc Bolland slashed his sales targets for the high street retailer today as he unveiled its first fall in profits in three years.

Retail giant Marks & Spencer today reported a 1% fall in annual profits to £705.9m for the year to March 31, the first drop in three years.

A drop in oil prices triggered by a joint US and UK move to release strategic reserves pulled energy stocks and the wider FTSE 100 Index into the red today.

The boss of internet movie rental firm Lovefilm was today unveiled as the new chief executive of struggling retailer Mothercare.

Mothercare will mark a rare achievement in the UK retail sector this week as it passes its 50th anniversary.

The former owners of MFI and a former executive of Kingfisher are among those to have expressed an interest in Comet, the UK electrical retailer that was recently put up for sale, it was reported today.

Ailing HMV was today thrown a lifeline by its lenders following a deal that will give Britain’s taxpayer-backed banks a stake in the retailer.

STRUGGLING British entertainment retailer HMV is to sell its Waterstones book chain to a Russian billionaire, using the £53 million (€60.55m) proceeds to cut debt as it fights to stay in business.

DEPARTMENT store Debenhams lost around €36 million in sales because of the snowy conditions.

Next said it remained cautious about trading prospects today after the high street chain reported a 6% fall in half-year like-for-like sales.

Beleaguered Marks & Spencer was under fresh stock market pressure today amid City fears that the current consumer squeeze could wipe a third or more off profits.

A resilient performance by its travel stores helped news, books and stationery retailer WH Smith report sales figures in line with expectations today.

Retail giant Marks & Spencer is expected to slash bonuses for around 75,000 of its UK staff today despite posting its highest annual profits for a decade.

BRITISH retailer Debenhams has said first-half sales fell after higher living costs caused consumers to spend less on clothes.

Stuart Rose’s pledge to remain at Marks & Spencer for another three years has put an end to persistent rumours surrounding his tenure at the helm of the retail chain.

Marks & Spencer added to the retail blues in the UK this week after its Christmas sales disappointment, but it was not all doom and gloom in a mixed week for the sector.

Fashion chain Next will fall under the spotlight tomorrow as the first major name to update on what is likely to have been the toughest Christmas in years on the high street.

UK retail group WH Smith said today it was braced for a competitive Christmas after it reported lower sales over the last ten weeks of trading.

Fears of a “brain drain” at supermarket giant Tesco were reinforced today after news of the group’s third key executive departure in two weeks.

Updates and results from Curry’s owner DSG International and property website Rightmove will bring the impact of recent interest rate hikes back into focus this week.

Marks & Spencer is expected to report a sharp slowdown in sales growth today as bad weather and interest rate rises take their toll.

The Qatari investment group involved in a raid on Sainsbury's shares has said it holds a stake of 17.4% in the British supermarket chain.

The battle for retailing giant Alliance Boots looked over today after private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts floored its rival with an £11bn (€16.2bn) bid.

Alliance Boots, the retail and wholesale drug group being eyed for takeover by private equity bidders, announced a raft of changes today that will see hundreds of jobs cut and its pharmacies rebranded in a £65m (€95.6m) million makeover.

Shares in retailer Next soared to a record high today after the firm became the latest British high street name to be linked to a private equity takeover.

HMV shares were 12% lower in the UK today as analysts reacted to the latest profits warning and expressed initial disappointment at the content of the review.

Beleaguered music and books retailer HMV will today outline details of a recovery plan in the UK as the group struggles amid increasing competition from supermarkets and online retailers.

Marks & Spencer’s admission of interest in a potential bid for Sainsbury’s could press the retailer’s private equity suitors into tabling a firm offer for the company, a leading retail analyst said today.

British kitchen manufacturer Galiform reported strong sales growth at Howden Joinery today and said it was on course to deliver profits in line with market expectations.

The owner of Argos and Homebase today said it was cautious about the short-term outlook for consumer spending as it prepared for the vital Christmas trading period.

Shares in Marks & Spencer closed at a record high tonight after booming sales raised the prospect of a return to its halcyon days of billion pound profits.

The recovery of retail chain Marks & Spencer is expected to continue next week when the high street giant publishes its results for the first half of the year.

The recovery of Marks & Spencer is expected to continue next week when the high street giant publishes its results for the first half of the year.

WH Smith boss Kate Swann today said the revival of the British retailer was marginally ahead of schedule, despite the impact of “subdued” trading conditions.

Embattled music retailer HMV appointed a new chief executive today after securing the services of a former boss at retail chain Comet.