Marks & Spencer boosted by food growth while fashion lags behind Retail Marks & Spencer said its food arm is driving the retailer’s return to growth, while issues with stock and “trendy” designs slowed the comeback of its fashion business. The FTSE 100 retailer posted a £355m pre-tax profit in the six months to the end of September, up from £3m last year when a cyber attack [...]
Asda’s turnaround king names heir to the throne Retail Allan Leighton was adamant. Just two months ago, Asda’s then-executive chairman insisted that his position as the sole leader of the discount grocer’s turnaround plans would not change any time soon. It had been rumoured that Asda was on the lookout for a chief executive to bolster its efforts to return to its heyday, but [...]
Asda hands reins to former Morrisons boss in turnaround push Retail Asda has named a former Morrisons boss as its new chief executive as the embattled grocer looks to accelerate its turnaround efforts. David Potts, who also spent four decades with Tesco, will take over the reins with immediate effect, prompting veteran boss Allan Leighton to step back into a non-executive chairman role two years after [...]
Can Marks & Spencer’s TikTok star help it ‘dump the frump’? November 2, 2026 Marks & Spencer will face shareholders on Wednesday, with hopes of presenting a lift from its breakout social media star, Kathryn Turner, writes Felix Armstrong. Ditch the fake blood and vampire fangs: Britain’s viral Halloween costume this year featured a white shirt, a blue sweater vest and a blonde wig. Kathryn Turner, Marks & Spencer’s [...]
Just one country remains in Tesco’s decades-long global retreat November 2, 2026 Tesco’s sale of its Czech and Slovak businesses is the latest step in its long retreat from a once-sprawling global presence. Felix Armstrong traces this journey Tesco’s hold on the British grocery market is unmatched. Holding a towering 27.8 per cent market share across more than 3,600 shops, the supermarket chain is a fixture on [...]
Supermarket giants welcome crackdown on Aldi and Lidl October 22, 2026 Supermarket giants, including Waitrose and Morrisons, have welcomed the competition watchdog’s decision to crack down on Aldi and Lidl. Lidl and Aldi are currently excluded from a law which bans the UK’s biggest supermarket chains from engaging in so-called ‘landblocking‘. Top grocers have already warned that the existing rules allowed the two German discounters to use a “problematic” [...]
Sainsbury’s hopes to regain narrative after Morrisons merger bombshell October 20, 2026 Sainsbury’s is set to update the market on its latest numbers this week. But the City has one thing in mind: merger talks with Morrisons, writes Felix Armstrong As Sainsbury’s boss Simon Roberts gears up to face the market later this week, business hacks will be getting used to the usual riposte: no comment. The [...]
Lidl snaps up market share as rival Aldi stalls October 13, 2026 Lidl is the fastest-growing grocer in the UK, new figures suggest, as the discount supermarket grabs more market share while its rivals stall. The German discounter held 8.6 per cent of the UK’s grocer market in the 12 weeks to October, according to Worldpanel by Numerator, up from 8.2 per cent a year ago. This [...]
Sainsbury’s merger talks mark end of supermarket big four October 7, 2026 It is approaching a decade since Mike Coupe, then Sainsbury’s boss, was caught on a hot mic singing “we’re in the money” as his supermarket announced its impending takeover of rival grocer Asda. He was forced to apologise for the outburst, which was caught on camera while he waited to be interviewed by ITV News. “This [...]
Could an exit from Europe bolster Tesco’s UK dominance? October 6, 2026 Like a student nearing the end of their gap year, Tesco has careened across Europe, Asia, even the United States, and is now preparing to return home and settle down. The supermarket chain, the UK’s largest, is weighing up whether to offload its operations in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with grocery rival Lidl [...]