AmazonFresh parks tanks in Waitrose territory with expansion into Home Counties February 8, 2017 Already widely available across London, Amazon’s grocery delivery service is now expanding into the suburbs of Hampshire and Surrey. Launched in June last year, AmazonFresh was initially available within 69 London postcodes, before increasing its remit to 190 postcodes in the city and a total of 260 across the country. Amazon says that “Prime” customers [...]
Asda is turning friend against friend with this saucy ketchup poll February 8, 2017 Remember that time #thedress caused rifts in families, turned friends against each other and generally broke the internet? Now Asda has done it again, causing a condiment conundrum by asking one simple question: do you keep your ketchup in the fridge? Yesterday the supermarket said one of its stores had begun experimenting with storing ketchup in both [...]
L’Oréal explores sale of The Body Shop February 8, 2017 French cosmetics group L'Oréal is considering selling The Body Shop for €1bn (£851m), according to reports. L'Oréal acquired The Body Shop 11 years ago for £652.3m, but is now working with bankers at Lazard to sell the struggling skincare range, according to the Financial Times. It is thought Lazard and L'Oréal are exploring various options for the future of [...]
Strong dollar starts to bite on Mondelez sales outside of the US as revenue falls 8.1 per cent February 7, 2017 Mondelez International, the maker of Oreos and Cadbury chocolate, reported a slump in holiday-quarter sales and profit due to a strong dollar. The figures Net revenue fell 8.1 per cent to $6.77bn in the quarter. Analysts on average had expected revenue of $6.89bn, according to Thomson Reuters estimates. The strong pound hit the value of [...]
Back on track? Toymaker Hornby’s sales in line with expectations as shares rise February 7, 2017 Shares in Hornby steamed ahead by as much as 24 per cent in early trading as it said that full year revenues are on track to be in line with expectations. In a trading update, Hornby said: “As previously announced, revenue is expected to decline by around 20-25 per cent this financial year due to [...]
Playtech bets £50m on bingo specialist Eyecon as it looks to bolster content February 7, 2017 Software and services supplier to the gambling industry, Playtech, has purchased Eyecon, an online gaming slots software company, for £50m, including £25m in cash. This represents eight times Eyecon’s current earnings. The addition of Eyecon’s content portfolio is an attempt by Playtech to boost its capacity to provide more content to its customers. Eyecon has [...]
Brits splash out more on whisky than rest of Europe, says Scotch Whisky Association February 7, 2017 The UK is the most expensive place to buy a dram of whisky anywhere in Europe, the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA), has highlighted today. Over one quarter of all the tax on spirits collected in Europe is paid for by Britons due to a domestic tax level, which is higher than the European average. The [...]
Family finance jitters send consumer confidence slumping to three-year low February 7, 2017 Consumer confidence has suffered the biggest single drop in a month, according to a survey released by Moneysupermarket today. According to monthly data collected by the price comparison website, its Consumer Confidence Index, currently stands at 41.63, a drop of over 15 points for February compared to January 2017, and the single biggest monthly drop [...]
Virgin Active offloads 16 fitness clubs to David Lloyd Leisure February 7, 2017 Virgin Active, the eponymous gym chain, has offloaded 16 of its clubs in the UK to David Lloyd Leisure for an undisclosed sum. The fitness firm will continue to operate 45 clubs in the UK, 33 of which are in London. Last year, Virgin Active sold a further 35 UK gyms to Nuffield Health, a [...]
New Look suffers “disappointing” sales drop during crucial Christmas shopping period February 7, 2017 New Look did not have a very merry Christmas, failing to bag a sales boost during the most important period of the year for retailers. The figures New Look said group like-for-like sales fell 4.6 per cent in the 13 weeks to 24 December, with sales in the UK down 4.7 per cent on the same [...]