Budgens is closing more than 30 stores March 7, 2017 More than 30 Budgens stores are set to close as Food Retailer Operations Limited (FROL) has gone into administration, putting 815 jobs at risk. FROL operates 34 Budgens stores, having bought them from the Co-op in July last year. Nine outlets were closed over the weekend, and the final 25 will close their doors over the [...]
Supermarket sales grew at their fastest rate since June 2014 in the last 12 weeks March 7, 2017 Supermarket sales were growing at their fastest rate since June 2014 over the past three months as inflation started to bump up prices for key items such as tea, butter and fish. According to data from Kantar Worldpanel, supermarket sales grew by 2.3 per cent year-on-year for the 12 weeks ending 26 February. Kantar said [...]
Paddy Power Betfair reports revenue and profit rise for 2016 ahead of next week’s Cheltenham festival March 7, 2017 As bookmakers prepare for next week's Cheltenham festival, Paddy Power has unveiled an 18 per cent jump in revenue in 2016 although statutory figures, which include Betfair's numbers from 2 Fabruary last year, paint a different picture. The figures Revenue grew 18 per cent to £1.55bn from £1.32bn in 2015 on a pro-forma basis, while statutory revenue [...]
Tesco’s Dave Lewis: The Booker takeover means we can buy more and waste less March 7, 2017 Tesco boss Dave Lewis has said reducing food waste is a factor behind the supermarket’s £3.7bn takeover of wholesaler Booker. The tie-up will enable the combined group to buy a larger proportion of crops each producers. This allows it to both reduce its spend and ensure the residual food doesn't go to waste, Lewis said. Read more: Why Tesco could be [...]
Retail sales fell in February as non-food retail sales decline for first time since 2011 according to early indicator March 7, 2017 Retail sales fell in February as non-food purchases recorded their first quarterly decline in more than five years, a survey ahead of official data shows. Like-for-like sales fell by 0.4 per cent compared to February 2016, according to the retail sales monitor reported by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG, despite food sales rising [...]
Former Tesco finance chief Laurie McIlwee to join the board of Giraffe restaurant chain and Ed’s Easy Diner parent group March 7, 2017 A former Tesco finance chief is poised to join the board of the restaurant group that owns the likes of Giraffe and Ed’s Easy Diner, according to reports. Laurie McIlwee has been appointed executive chairman of Boparan Restaurant Group, Sky News reported, months after being cleared of any involvement in Tesco’s 2014 profit overstatement scandal. Read [...]
Most entertainment is consumed online through access services and is not owned outright March 7, 2017 Britons now spend almost 80 per cent of their total expenditure on entertainment online and are increasingly consuming it via access services such as Spotify and mobile apps like Pokemon Go. Data from the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA), which represents retailers and digital services offering music, video and games, shows that 27.6 per cent of [...]
This is what the booze and tobacco sectors are hoping to see in the Spring Budget March 6, 2017 The countdown is nearly over – the Spring Budget is now just two days away. Britain's beer and spirits sector has been campaigning for weeks in a bid to urge chancellor Philip Hammond to cut the beer duty while the industry grapples with cost pressures from rocketing business rates and increases to the national minimum wage. Here's [...]
Demand for travel to the US has slowed amid confusion and anger over Trump’s travel ban March 6, 2017 As Donald Trump readies his revamped travel ban, new figures show demand for travel to the US has slowed after a promising start to the year. Overall, travel bookings to the US over the next three months are down 0.4 per cent on last year. However, the day before Trump's travel ban was imposed, bookings were up [...]
How pay-as-you-go chain The Gym Group built up its muscle and plans to bulk up further March 6, 2017 Since opening in 2008, pay-as-you-go chain The Gym Group has grown at a rate of knots. Led by chief executive John Treharne, the gym operator is the second largest budget gym in the UK with 89 sites and 448,000 members as of December. The group has a plan to open a further 15 to 20 [...]