Send us Fan Mail

Diane Wehrle CEO at Rendle Intelligence and Insights joins Simon for their monthly chat
They break down why February 2026 turns into a tough month for UK retail, with record rain dragging down footfall and high street sales. They also zoom out to consumer confidence, inflation pressures, and the April policy changes that could reshape hiring and costs.

• Record wet weather and why it hits retail demand fast
• Footfall declines across high streets, centres and retail parks
• High street debit card sales tracking below last year
• Category performance across fashion, food and drink, general retail, grocery, health and beauty
• GfK Nielsen consumer confidence falling and what it signals for March
• Major purchases weakening and the savings index rising
• Inflation staying at 3% overall while essentials run hotter
• Discounting effects in clothing and muted inflation in big-ticket categories
• Average transaction value rising in food and drink and health and beauty
• National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rises from 1 April
• Key headlines from the first phase of the UK Employment Rights Act

#theproductivityexperts
Register for the 2026 Productivity Forum
Find us in the Top 50 Productivity Podcasts
Connect to Simon on LinkedIn
Follow ReThink on LinkedIn

Send us Fan Mail

We gave NotebookLM our Productivity Pulse podcasts from November 2025 to February 2026 with Sue, Simon, & James and this is what it came up with...

We follow the stop-watch data behind everyday queues and show how “efficient” labour models can still create predictable chaos at peak demand. We trace how wage pressure, algorithmic scheduling, and physical layout decisions reshape what workers do and what customers feel.

• Minimum wage pressure and the knock-on effects of wage compression
• The efficiency index and why zero slack systems lose resilience
• Variable efficiency and why two stores can feel like different companies
• Algorithmic break scheduling that prioritises compliance over footfall
• Hidden travel time that turns a short break into a bigger productivity hit
• Manager role drift and why leadership disappears into shelf-stacking
• How quick service restaurants redesign space for delivery drivers
• Kiosks, upselling psychology, and the customer dithering factor
• Micro efficiencies in kitchens that function like pit-stop engineering
• Parcel collection bottlenecks and the shaky maths of the halo effect
• Stock replenishment waste, taking stock for a walk, and lean batch processing

#theproductivityexperts
Register for the 2026 Productivity Forum
Find us in the Top 50 Productivity Podcasts
Connect to Simon on LinkedIn
Follow ReThink on LinkedIn

Send a text

Hear directly from our experts—Sue, Simon, & James —who share real-world trends, new data findings, and actionable productivity insights

We dig into stock to shelf benchmarking and reveal how much replenishment time is lost to movement and returns. We share early findings and details of our benchmarking report and Retail Technology Show plans

• Early look at our retail benchmarking report launch
• Why benchmarking gives context beyond raw task times
• The real cost of replenishment and movement waste
• Impact of returning stock to backroom and double handling
• Lean-inspired fixes: batching, pull signals, one-touch flow
• Resource vs demand mismatches driving “keep busy” habits
• Per-item cost insights and how to track them

We will be at the Retail Technology Show the 22nd and 23rd of April at the Excel in London
We’ve got the VIP party in partnership with Solvedby.AI on the 22nd April. Register here... VIP Aftershow
Our Productivity Forum takes place on 10th September in Birmingham. Register here... ReThink Forum 2026

#theproductivityexperts
Register for the 2026 Productivity Forum
Find us in the Top 50 Productivity Podcasts
Connect to Simon on LinkedIn
Follow ReThink on LinkedIn