City braced for bad news over Christmas retail figures

Next’s figures will be released on Thursday and could be down 13% on last yearThe City is bracing itself, to discover just how brutal Christmas 2018 was for the UK high street, with a string of crucial announcements threatening to add to retailing’s woes.The key period comes as panic mounts within the sector after the Sports Direct tycoon Mike Ashley said last month that trading was so bad for many chains it “will literally smash them to pieces”. Music and film retailer H