Superdry’s share price skyrockets after announcing a second special dividend off the back of a bumper year July 5, 2018 British fashion retailer Superdry has announced its second special dividend in two years, after delivering double digit growth in sales and profits in its full year results. The group is issuing a full year ordinary dividend of 31.2p per share at an increase of 11.4 per cent, coupled with a special dividend of 25p per [...]
Mastercard and Visa lose battle with supermarkets over debit and credit card charges July 4, 2018 Mastercard and Visa have lost the latest round of an ongoing legal battle with a conglomerate of supermarkets after a court found their card charges were too high and had breached competition rules. The two credit card giants had been accused by a number of retailers of charging overly high fees – known as interchange [...]
Tesco has formed a strategic alliance with French supermarket chain Carrefour to enhance competition July 2, 2018 Tesco and Carrefour are teaming up to beat the competition, in a strategic alliance announced this morning. A joint statement issued by the companies say the alliance will cover their relationships with global suppliers, its joint purchasing of all own-brand products, and any goods not for resale. The deal should force prices for own-brand products [...]
Asda has been forced to ration its fizzy drinks amid an ongoing UK-wide carbon dioxide shortage June 30, 2018 Supermarket chain Asda is limiting the amount of fizzy drinks its customers can buy, as the UK's carbon dioxide shortage worsens to near-crisis levels. The retailer has put a six-drink cap on shoppers buying bottles, cans or multipacks of fizzy drinks online, although the limit does not apply in-store. This includes all own-brand drinks, as [...]
Tesco Go: The UK supermarket chain is trialling an Amazon-style version of checkout-free shopping June 29, 2018 Tesco has said it is testing a way of paying for your shopping in-store without going through a checkout, using a smartphone app to scan items and pay online. The app is being tested in a Tesco Express near its headquarters in Welwyn Garden City, which is also one of the retail chain's cashless stores. [...]
Poundland owner Steinhoff secures deal with creditors to pave way for restructuring plans June 29, 2018 The South African retailer that owns Poundland said today that it had got the thumbs up from creditors to move ahead with debt restructuring plans. Steinhoff, which owns brands such as Benson for Beds and Harveys in the UK, said in an update today that it had agreed "key commercial terms" on its restructuring plans, [...]
Ticketmaster warns of data breach affecting tens of thousands of UK customers June 27, 2018 UK customers of Ticketmaster, GETMEIN! and TicketWeb who bought tickets between February and 23 June this year may have had personal and payment information stolen by hackers. Ticketmaster – which controls more than 80 per cent of worldwide ticket sales – found it had been targeted by fraudsters last week as it identified "malicious software" [...]
Hummus Bros dips into administration June 26, 2018 London food operator Hummus Bros has closed as a "perfect storm" of costs and competition pushed it into administration. The six-strong Mediterranean chain posted on twitter late last night to inform customers that the business had closed after 13 years of trading. Humms Bros said that "rising costs, reduced demand and over-supply in the market" [...]
Here’s how you can get a free iced coffee this week June 26, 2018 Pret a Manger is giving out free iced coffees this Friday to celebrate its new summer menu. Iced coffee is available from today at over 200 Pret branches, including most of its City locations. On Friday 29 June, staff will spend an hour giving away the cold drink for free. But there's a catch. Pret [...]
Sainsbury’s sales dip while Ocado and Lidl gain in latest grocer data June 26, 2018 Sainsbury's was the only supermarket to see a decline in sales during the 12 weeks to 17 June, new data shows. Sales slipped by £10m compared to the same period last year, bringing its market share down to 15.6 per cent, according to Kantar Worldpanel. Tesco, Asda and Morrisons also all lost market share despite [...]