Discounters win war of the supermarkets amid sluggish Christmas growth January 8, 2019 Aldi led the way during a record-breaking Christmas for groceries, even as sales growth slowed across the sector. The supermarket increased sales by 10.4 per cent, narrowly beating fellow discounter Lidl to the top spot, figures from Kantar Worldpanel show. “The discounters have continued to make their mark over Christmas: two-thirds of all households shopped [...]
Former Barclays bosses face trial over financial crisis-era deals with Qatar January 6, 2019 Four of Barclays' most senior bankers will appear in court tomorrow on charges relating to a rescue package the bank secured from Qatar at the height of the financial crisis. Former Barclays chief executive John Varley will stand trial alongside former senior executives Roger Jenkins, Tom Kalaris and Richard Boath over funding from Qatari investors that allowed the [...]
Food waste will be next year’s moral crisis, just as single-use plastic was this year December 18, 2018 In these turbulent times, there was one villain who stood out in 2018. Plastered all over our TV screens, phones, and newspapers, this particular offender was everywhere. It is destructive, toxic, and impossible to get rid of. I am of course talking about single-use plastic. That said, the response to this growing threat has been [...]
Could the UK be on the brink of a US-style class action explosion? December 16, 2018 The Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group, Tesco, Google and Mastercard. These are just a handful of the household names that have been targeted in group action lawsuits in the UK with billions of pounds at stake. The UK, unlike the US or Australia, does not have a long history of class action-style lawsuits, [...]
Carrot or stick? For Aldi and Lidl, equal pay goes hand in hand with commercial success December 13, 2018 Kevin the Carrot, who once again features in Aldi’s Christmas advert, is proving a bigger hit with shoppers than even Elton John, star of the John Lewis ad. Soft-toy versions of the animated vegetable sold out at 4am on the day of release in some areas and have reportedly provoked fights among customers desperate to [...]
Mixed bag for Britain’s grocers as market cools despite record Christmas spending forecasts December 11, 2018 Shoppers have been taking fewer trips to the supermarket in recent weeks after a bumper summer of demand, according to new data that suggests Britain's grocery sector has slowed to its lowest rate of growth in more than a year. Despite projections that spending this Christmas will break UK records, the supermarket sector grew at two [...]
Tesco fraud fiasco leaves new SFO boss with serious questions to answer December 6, 2018 The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has had more ups and downs than Thomas Cook’s share price. When it scores a big success, like the near £500m deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with Rolls-Royce, it gets cheered to the rafters, while failures such as the Tchenguiz brothers debacle sees it dubbed the Serious Farce Office by critics. [...]
Serious Fraud Office trial against Tesco executives collapses December 6, 2018 The Serious Fraud Office’s case against two senior former Tesco’s executive has collapsed because of insufficient evidence. At Southwark Crown Court this morning Judge Sir John Royce instructed the jury to acquit both defendants, former UK managing director Chris Bush and ex-UK food commercial director John Scouler. The pair had both been charged with one [...]
Morrisons and Tesco flag concerns over Sainsbury’s-Asda merger December 4, 2018 Morrisons and Tesco have added their voice to the growing chorus of retailers which have spoken out against the proposed £12bn merger between Asda and Sainsbury’s. Both grocers have this week brought into question Sainsbury’s planned takeover of rival Asda, which would see Britain’s second and third largest supermarkets overtake Tesco to the top spot. [...]
Voting with your wallet is the ultimate consumer power December 4, 2018 The Labour party leadership believes that income inequality is far too high. As socialists, they think of income as centrally distributed, like slices of cake at a birthday party. Top company executives have seen sharp increases in pay in recent decades, so in Labour’s view, that means less sponge and icing for workers. The cutter [...]