Lidl boss warns retailers are ‘reeling’ after Budget tax raid November 20, 2024 The boss of budget supermarket Lidl has warned retailers are “reeling” following Labour’s tax raid in the Autumn Budget. The German supermarket’s UK boss Ryan McDonnell said the discount brand was staring down the barrel of “tens of millions of pounds” in extra costs. This comes after the Chancellor unveiled a £25.7bn tax-raising package, with [...]
How Arla Foods boss went from selling cigarettes to Lurpak and Cravendale November 15, 2024 A globe-trotting career that began selling cigarettes at British American Tobacco and has led to heading up the UK arm of dairy giant Arla Foods is maybe not what Bas Padberg could have predicted when he started out in the early 1990s. The managing director of the group behind Lurpak, Cravendale, Skyr and B.O.B milk [...]
Struggles continue at Asda as new owner looks to turn around supermarket giant November 12, 2024 The continuing struggles at supermarket giant Asda have been revealed with both Tesco and Sainsbury’s hoovering up its market share in the UK, according to new figures. Sales at the Leeds-based grocer totalled £4.242bn in the 12 weeks to 3 November, 2024, down from the £4.490bn it reported for the same period last year, the [...]
Sainsbury’s: FTSE 100 retailer warns Reeves’ budget may push up food prices November 7, 2024 Chief executive of Sainsbury’s Simon Roberts has warned that Reeves’ decision to increase employer’s national insurance contributions (NICs) by 1.2 per cent to 15 per cent next April could lead to price inflation. Sainsbury’s has estimated the cost of the change at £140m, according to the Guardian. “This industry operates on very low margins, and there just [...]
One Stop sales jump at Tesco-owned convenience store chain November 7, 2024 Sales at convenience store chain One Stop, which is owned by Tesco, jumped to almost £1.3bn during its latest financial year. The Walsall-headquartered business has posted a revenue of £1.29bn for the 12 months to 24 February, 2024, up from the £1.17bn it achieved in the prior year. Newly-filed accounts with Companies House have also [...]
Asda cuts jobs and demands three-days-a-week return to office November 6, 2024 Asda has announced job cuts and asked its staff to return to the office three days a week in the latest move in its turnaround plan. In an internal email on 5 November, the grocer said it was changing its office attendance policy at its George House site in Leicester as well as its Asda [...]
Asda takeover completes as Issa brothers split made official November 1, 2024 Asda is now under the majority control of private equity giant TDR Capital after billionaire Zuber Issa sold his shares in the supermarket giant. Funds managed by TDR Capital now hold a 67.5 per cent stake in the Leeds-headquartered company while Zuber’s brother Mohsin Issa retains his 22.5 per cent holding. A further 10 per [...]
Ocado announces new chair sooner than expected October 31, 2024 Ocado has announced KKR senior advisor Adam Warby will succeed Rick Haythornthwaite as its chairman in December. As well as working for KKR, Warby also serves as chair of management consultant firm Heidrick & Struggles, and previously held various positions at Microsoft and IBM. Earlier this year, Ocado said Haythornthwaite would step down to focus [...]
Asda flies in Morrisons and M&S execs as turnaround plan gathers pace October 22, 2024 Asda has added two new members to its leadership team as it looks to bolster the firm amid a significant turnaround plan. Laura Lepley will join in December from Morrisons as vice president of central operations, while Mark Henry will join in January from M&S as vice president of retail in the south of England. [...]
Supermarkets face calls to ban plastic for fresh goods October 17, 2024 An influential environmental NGO has called for the Government to ban plastic packaging on fruit and vegetable products in a bid to make grocery shopping more environmentally friendly. Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap) have called for a ban on packaging for 21 products including apples, carrots and tomatoes to reduce food and plastic waste. [...]