More store closures being considered

John Lewis considers closing more stores, but will Bristol be one of them ?

The High Street giant John Lewis is considering more store closures as it tries to cut costs and adapt to the boom in online shopping. This could be another blow for our High Street, up to eight department stores may remain permanently closed across the UK and could Bristol bevone of the one to potentailly go? This is on top of the eight stores they closed last year, which included two small travel hub shops at Heathrow and St Pancras. That may leave it with 34 stores, down from its current total of 4 In January, John Lewis said online its Christmas trading had been better than anticipated and that it expected its full year profits to be ahead of its previous guidance of a small loss or a small profit.

• 2,450 jobs lost as Dorothy Perkins sold to Boohoo

• Thousands of jobs at risk after Asos

Arcadia deal

Any announcement on further store closures could come next month, when the John Lewis Partnership, which includes Waitrose, announces its annual results on 11th March.

John Lewis declined to comment in a online statement on the potential move, which was first reported by national paper. The last set of results showed a half-year loss of £635m, and prompted it to cancel its annual staff bonus for the first time since 1953.

Any closures would be another blow to the high street and town centres, which are already grappling with the fall-out from the collapse of Debenhams and Sir Philip Green's Arcadia empire.

The rise in internet shopping was exacerbated by various lockdown measures amid coronavirus, has forced John Lewis to rethink how many stores it needs.

Losses

They already expect up to 70% of its sales will be online by 2025.

In July last year, John Lewis announced it was closing its stores in Birmingham, Croydon, Watford, Newbury, Swindon and Tamworth, as well as the smaller hubs at St Pancras and Heathrow, with the loss of 1,300 jobs. The shutting of more stores would be another blow for our High Street, which has seen the closure of a number of so-called anchor brands - big names that attract shoppers and other shops to the area. Topshop, part of Sir Philip Green's failed Arcadia empire, and Debenhams have been among the high profile casualties of the shift of retailing online. Earlier this month, online fashion retailer Asos bought Topshop and other Arcadia brands Topman and Miss Selfridge out of administration. And Boohoo, another fast-growing online retailer, bought Arcadia brands Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton. Neither deal included the High Street stores.

Your garden in

Spring is finally here! The warmer and sunnier days during March provide the oppurtunity for an increasing range of gardening tasks. It’s a great time of the year as new life bursts forth and the garden begins to transform. Preparation of seed beds and borders should be well under the way this month as well as cutting back winter shrubs and generally tidying up the mess that the winter has left behind. Whether you’re preparing for shrubs and bedding plants or sowing seed for vegtables. Once all the tidying is done you’ll be in a better postion to plan the seasons planting.

The essential gardening jobs for March

Sow seeds and plant onion sets, shallots and potatoes

As the soil begins to warm you can start to sow broad beans, salads and sweet peas. If bad weather is forecast, be sure to cover seedlings with clothes to protect them. March is also the time to plant out onion and shallot sets – cover with fleece or netting to protect from birds. Early varieties of potato such as ‘Rocket’ and ‘swift’ , can be planted. If they have been kept in a light and frost-free environments, they should be ‘chitting’ (a slight sprouting from seed potato). Chitting before planting can encourage earlier and heavier cropping.

Feed

As the warmer weather promotes fresh growth, a general garden fertiliser should be applied to help boost roots, green foliage and encourage more fruits and flowers from your plants. It can be applied around the base of plants by scattering straight from the box and left to be watered in the rain. Unfortunately, the warm weather will also see weeds start to grow as well. Weeding isn’t the most popular of jobs but its best to pull any that start to appear while they are young to prevent spreading.

Scarify the lawn

Do some lawn preparations before the growing season gets well under way. Choose a dry day and give the lawn a rake to remove the remnants of winter before cutting with the mower blades set at the highest position. Then aerate with a garden fork or aeration machine. This helps drainage and gets oxygen to the roots. Finally, apply a top dressing of spring lawn feed to add nutrients. Plant of the Month Pansy/Viola

Why Should you plant them? One of the most popular bedding plants, pansies and violas are hardy annuals that have a stunning array of colours to choose from. Bringing the joy of spring to your garden during the colder months, they grow happily in borders or containers as well as providing great ground cover.

How should you plant them? Plant them in moist, well-drained soil in a spot with good sunlight to encourage flowering. tough little plants that are extremly hardy, they prefer cooler temperatures and need watering regularly. They are also very versatile - plant them in beds, borders, containers and hanging baskets

When we fit any Worcester Bosch boiler with a system filter HURRY ONLY FOR A LIMITED TIME!

Plumbing & Heating Co Ltd keeping Bristol Warm 231756

www.bristolplumbingandheating.com THE ONE STOP SHOP FOR PLUMBING,HEATING & ELECTRICS

WE ARE SPECIALISTS IN:

LPG Breakdown & repair (All makes) Boiler servicing & repairs (All makes) Power ushing P.A.T. Testing Domestic electrics Periodic electrical inspection

Test & inspect

Free estimates

A NEW BOILER FROM ONLY £2500

Top Rated Worcester Bosch Fully fitted, includes filter and clock Price is for combi-for-combi swap with horizontal flue CALL NOW ON: 0117 910 9005 or 0117 968 7196

Boiler Breakdowns, boiler Services & Landlord Gas Safe Certificates From Only £60 + Vat