The slow motion crash on the High Street - and what Buffett learnt from his bet

This is Money Podcast

This is Money

Business News, Business, Investing, News

4.1 • 650 Ratings

🗓️ 2 March 2018

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Toys R Us and Maplin were sunk this week, investors are nervously watching Carpetright and Mothercare, and restaurants from Jamie Oliver’s, to Byron, and now Prezzo are closing their doors.

This week’s shop closures could see more than 5,000 jobs lost.

It looks like a slow motion crash on the High Street.

But at the same time the economy is doing okay, and sales in the housing market are reasonably buoyant, so why the trouble?

In this week’s podcast, Simon Lambert, Georgie Frost and Rachel Rickard Straus take a look at Britain’s high street woes and whether it is company debt, consumer confidence, overexpansion gone wrong, or a failure to keep up with the times that is sinking well-known names.

Also on the show, we take a look at what Warren Buffett learnt from his ten–year tracker fund bet – and the twist in the tale of how he won it.

Plus, how the value of your old £10 note changed through its lifetime and the things most likely to go wrong on a new car.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to This Is Money podcast in partnership with NS&I, your weekly roundup of the top personal finance, consumer and business stories that editor Simon Lambert and his team have been covering on their award-winning website. I'm your host, Georgie Frost, and alongside Simon I today is personal finance editor Rachel Rickard Strauss. And coming up, a cold chill swept across the
0:22.6	high street this week. Toys R Us and Maplin, the latest big names to fall as experts predict
0:28.4	a perfect storm could force more closures in the year ahead. Which areas are most vulnerable?
0:34.7	Fashion, food, furniture? You'd think record numbers of first-time buyers would be good for stores like Carpet Right and Bensens for beds,
0:42.4	so why are they struggling too?
0:44.3	We take a closer look at the role of the Bank of Mum and Dad.
0:47.8	We say goodbye to Charles Darwin and analyse the Buffett bet.
0:52.0	Plus, no, it's not your driving. Well, it might be, but we explore
0:56.3	what are the most common complaints with new cars. All that and plenty more coming up. Don't
1:01.2	forget and stay up to date with all the latest breaking money news. Just go to this ismoney.com.
1:05.4	UK or download the app. This is Money. Br brought to you in partnership with NS and I.
1:12.6	Enjoy peace of mind with our new guaranteed income bonds and guaranteed growth bonds.
1:17.6	But first, the beast from the east brought snowstorms and freezing temperatures to Britain
1:22.6	this week.
1:23.6	But the High Street got its own red warning.
1:26.6	The weather is expected to be an absolute disaster for already struggling retailers
1:30.5	who got a big reminder of just how tough conditions are,
1:34.2	with Toys R Us and Maplin the latest casualties.
1:37.3	We also got bad news from Fashion Store New Look and House of Fraser,
1:41.2	Carpetwright and Steinhof, who owned Benson's for Beds and Harvies,
1:45.0	while restaurant chains, Jamie's Dallion and Preto, announce closures.
1:49.4	No sector, it seems, is immune, but what is going on on the High Street?
	...

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