Retail sales fell by 0.6% year-on-year in January, according to the Office for National Statistics, which reported it as the first time year-on-year growth had halted in the sector since August 2011 - in total contrast to a sunnier picture painted by the BRC. 

There are now just 63 vacant ex-Woolworths stores in the UK compared with 385 in December 2009, a reduction of more than 40%. 

Despite consistent sales growth and its reputation as a beacon of hope for the beleaguered British high street, the John Lewis Partnership is to cut 325 managerial jobs. 

Haskins Garden Centres' chief executive Julian Winfield recently featured in a Santander national advertising campaign as one of four business owners, and to thanks him the bank paid £1,000 to his charity of choice, Greenfingers. 

Security supplier Yale has launched the Crime Watcher app which shows the user how many burglaries have taken place within a mile of their home in the last month. 

The DIY and gardening retail sector, the largest tracked by GfK, remained stable throughout 2012 despite bad weather and total consumer durable spending dropping by 2.8%. 

Scottish hardware chain Wright's Home Hardware has opened its eighth store. 

A kitchen supplier has been taken to task by the ad watchdog for failing to say on its website where the company is located. 

The Children and Young Peoples' Service (chYps) has been named as Millbrook Garden Centre's charity of the year. 

The Mica DIY Exchange is back for a third year this spring, and the meeting of the Mica clan has once more proved a sell-out. 

Retailers of kitchens and bathrooms are being warned about an internet scam that involves a bogus customer ordering goods with stolen credit cards. 

Dunelm said today that it grew pre-tax profit by 14.6% to £59.8m, as it released its interim results for the 26 weeks to December 29 2012. 

B&Q has launched a new drive, backed by television advertising, that aims to underline its positioning as a retailer that offers permanently low prices. 

Argos and Homebase will leave a multi-million pound legacy for young people with cancer when it wraps up its partnership with Teenage Cancer Trust this month. 

Winners of the New Product Awards were unveiled last night, with top new product launches, including LadderLimb, bagging prizes. 

Iconic Liverpool store Rapid Hardware has reached the end of the road - less than a week after administrators were appointed to the business. 

The 19th annual Totally DIY and Totally Tools show opened its doors, swapping those of the NEC for the Ricoh Arena, Coventry, yesterday, drawing exhibitors old and new, hundreds of visitors and a wealth of industry support. 

The fifth edition of next month's Asia-Pacific Sourcing is set to host over 600 suppliers of a wide range of products for the home and garden from the Far East. 

After just a decade and a half in the UK market, Bosch Lawn & Garden has seized leadership within the garden power categories, according to new industry analysis. 

Burston Rose & Garden Centre has been presented with a top award for excellence from the Garden Industry Manufacturers Association.