Serious Pig founder George Rice wants to pair craft beer with better snacks in British pubs March 4, 2019 The craft beer scene is big business. Hundreds of challenger brands have emerged over the past decade or more to take a bite – well, sip – out of the market share of the mainstream breweries. Some craft beer-makers have become established names, such as controversial Scottish brand BrewDog, while others have been snapped up [...]
‘Chicken king’ Boparan to close a third of Giraffe and Ed’s Diner restaurants March 4, 2019 Giraffe and Ed’s Diner have become the latest casualties in the struggling casual dining sector after the restaurant chains’ owner said it will close a third of their branches. The Boparan Restaurant Group (BRG), which is owned by ‘chicken king’ Ranjit Singh Boparan, is widely reported to have entered a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) that will [...]
Chickens come home to roost for Mike Coupe as Sainsbury-Asda deal dies February 22, 2019 | City Talk Mike Coupe was a happy chappy back in April. Notably he was caught on camera humming the lyrics to the gold digger's song – 'we're in the money' etc, after announcing a supermarket mega merger like no other. This week however the companies' complete lack of understanding of the Competition and Markets Authority has come [...]
The UK’s best and worst supermarkets: How did Sainsbury’s, Asda, Aldi and Lidl do? February 22, 2019 The big four supermarket chains have lost ground to budget rivals in a survey of shopper satisfaction, as customers grow increasingly dissatisfied with the the quality of in-house labels. Read more: Watchdog may block Sainsbury's-Asda merger Aldi and Lidl outperformed the big four with customer satisfaction scores of 68 and 66 per cent respectively, according to [...]
MPs urge government to slap penny tax on new clothes in bid to cut fashion industry waste February 19, 2019 An influential group of MPs has called for a 1p tax on new clothes in a bid to tackle consumer waste within the fashion industry. The penny tax, which would be levied on every new item of clothing sold by Britain’s retailers, has been proposed this morning by the cross-party Environmental Audit Committee to raise [...]
You can now trade London skyscrapers on a real estate stock exchange – here’s how it works February 12, 2019 Down the years, through booms and busts, investment in property has always meant one thing – buying buildings. And whether it be a corner shop or a skyscraper, the principle has always been the same – it’s the whole building that you buy. We take that for granted. Read more: Sharp rise in property values [...]
Watchdog delays final report on Sainsbury’s-Asda supermarket merger February 11, 2019 The UK's competition watchdog today extended its probe into the supermarket tie-up between Sainsbury's and Asda by eight weeks. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had decided to delay the publication of its report to give it enough time to “reach a fully reasoned final decision” on the £12bn merger. An inquiry group [...]
Iceland mulls bid for potential Sainsbury’s-Asda store sell-offs February 11, 2019 Frozen foods giant Iceland is mulling a move to snap up supermarket stores that Sainsbury’s and Asda could be forced to offload as part of their proposed tie-up. "We are looking at everything for sure," Iceland's managing director Richard Walker told the FT. "Food retail drives footfall and we are the only supermarket that is [...]
Unleaded petrol pump prices in the UK: Petrol and diesel prices drop for third month in a row February 5, 2019 The price of petrol and diesel dropped for the third month in a row in January, as the cost per litre reduced by more than 1p. The UK average price of unleaded was 120.92p on average, while diesel was 130.01p, according to research from RAC Fuel Watch published today. Read more: Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury's to cut price [...]
Ofcom complaints league table reveals worst phone and broadband providers February 4, 2019 Virgin Media and Vodafone have topped the league table for the most telecoms and broadband complaints in the third quarter last year, according to regulator Ofcom. Virgin received the most complaints for both pay-monthly mobile and pay-TV services, while Vodafone was the most bemoaned provider for broadband and landline. Read more: Which mobile operators offer London's [...]