Supermarkets blindsided by ‘shambolic’ stockpiling warning Retail Supermarkets have been caught off guard by the government’s “shambolic” campaign to urge Brits to stock up on supplies of food and water, industry sources told City AM. Retailers were not told the details of the government’s “Be Ready” campaign until days before it was announced and expected it to be a more “low key” [...]
Budget 2026: Sainsbury’s boss urges Labour to tackle Neets crisis Retail The boss of Sainsbury’s has urged the government to tackle the UK’s youth unemployment crisis, as he hit out at previous hikes to the cost of hiring workers. Simon Roberts, chief executive of the UK’s second-largest grocer, said John Healey must “focus on doing the right thing for young people” at next week’s Budget. In [...]
Sainsbury’s shares slide as ‘tough’ conditions slow growth Retail Shares in Sainsbury’s tumbled after the supermarket giant posted slowing sales growth and warned that shoppers are facing “tough” cost-of-living pressures. The UK’s second-largest supermarket saw its stock slide by nearly four per cent in early trading to 346p. This came despite the firm lifting the lower end of its full-year profit target from £965m [...]
As it happened: FTSE 100 losses ease as oil higher after Saudi drone attack October 22, 2026 Welcome back to the City AM FTSE 100 liveblog. London’s blue-chip index is sliding this morning after a shaky week for trading. Oil pressures have climbed higher after a drone attack on Saudi Aramco’s Shaybah oil field killed two people. The incident renewed tensions in the Middle East and heightened concerns over further disruptions to [...]
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 [...]
Mark Kleinman: Every Lidl helps a new era of supermarket mergers October 15, 2026 Mark Kleinman is Sky News’ City editor and the man who gets the Square Mile talking in his City AM column. Every Lidl helps a new era of supermarket mergers Every Lidl helps. For that matter, every Aldi does too. With apologies to the creators of Tesco’s famous advertising slogan, that might be the neatest way to encapsulate [...]
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 [...]
Retailers press Healey to cut high street taxes at crunch Downing St meeting October 13, 2026 Retailers urged John Healey to “reverse the damage” of rising high street taxes as the Chancellor met industry bosses on Tuesday. Top retailers including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer pressed Healey on business rates and youth unemployment but the Chancellor stopped short of confirming any Budget measures. Healey hosted high street bosses at Number [...]
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 [...]
Sainsbury’s and Morrisons held talks over blockbuster merger October 5, 2026 Sainsbury’s walked away from talks over a merger with smaller rival Morrisons earlier this year, shelving what would have been the biggest shake-up of the UK’s grocery market in decades. The UK’s second-largest supermarket chain held preliminary talks with its private-equity-owned rival over a merger of the two firms between November 2025 and February this [...]