Barber boom bucks high street struggles as demand for male hair grooming jumps November 18, 2018 A boom in barber shops is helping to revive the stricken high street, fuelled by the growing demand for hipster beards. Male hair grooming is now one of the fastest-growing retail sectors, as young men – especially workers in the City – care more than ever about the state of their face fuzz. The rise in [...]
Chewing the cud: Vegan startup Beyond Meat introduces plant-based burger to UK November 13, 2018 US plant-based food company Beyond Meat yesterday moved into the UK, bringing its vegan burgers to British supermarkets and restaurants. The Los Angeles-based business produces the plant-based Beyond Burger, which it says replicates the texture of meat while providing added nutritional benefits. The Beyond Burger went on sale yesterday at 350 Tesco branches across the country. [...]
Iceland’s banned palm oil advert could win over middle class shoppers as supermarkets prepare for Christmas November 13, 2018 Iceland could get a shot in the arm from its banned Christmas advert by appealing to middle class shoppers, according to consumer research firm Kantar Worldpanel. The supermarket's advert, which caused a storm on social media when it was deemed “too political” to be aired by Clearcast, could be exactly what the store needs to reach out to [...]
Law firm lodges equal pay claims against supermarket giant Morrisons November 13, 2018 The law firm that is taking on the big four supermarket giants over allegations of unequal pay has today lodged its first batch of claims against Morrisons in the Employment Tribunal. As well as Morrisons, Leigh Day is also taking on Asda, Sainsbury's and Tesco on behalf of female members of staff who believe they [...]
Trust me, we’ve been thinking about market power and competition all wrong November 13, 2018 Economists, politicians, and commentators on both sides of the Atlantic are growing more concerned with the supposed “monopolisation” of the economy. In a 2017 report, the Social Market Foundation found that eight of 10 key British markets, including in phones, gas and groceries, were highly dominated by small numbers of companies. Its director, James Kirkup, [...]
Kerching: Supermarkets win court ruling over £300m cash machine case November 9, 2018 Supermarket giants including Sainsbury’s and Tesco have won a £300m court dispute over business rates for cash machines outside shops. Today’s ruling from The Court of Appeal decided in favour of the retail giants, who are set to be refunded hundreds of millions of pounds from the government and local authorities. For eight years retailers [...]
Sainsbury’s and Asda merger could cut hole in shoppers’ pockets, Waitrose warns November 8, 2018 The proposed merger of Asda and Sainsbury’s will cause substantial harm to customers, rival chain Waitrose warned today. It said the merger could force independent retailers to close in the face of competition from the new giant, leaving shoppers with fewer alternatives, while prices could rise. In comments to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which [...]
A luddite levy on online shopping won’t help the high street October 23, 2018 Time and time again over the past few months, we’ve heard prominent figures in the retail world call for a special sales tax on online companies to help prop up their struggling sector, from the Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis, to the New West End Company that represents Selfridges and Marks & Spencer. Chancellor Philip [...]
Asda and Sainsbury’s mega merger could hit Aldi and Lidl’s trollies October 17, 2018 Britain’s store wars are intensifying by the day but the force is still strong with German discounters Aldi and Lidl. The price-cutters continued to steal market share from the Big Four supermarkets in the 12 weeks to 7 October, figures from the closely-watched Kantar Worldpanel report showed yesterday. Aldi’s sales growth, its fastest since January [...]
Barratt chair threatened with investor rebellion after shareholders advised to vote against re-election October 16, 2018 Housebuilding giant Barratt Developments could suffer a revolt at its annual general meeting tomorrow, after an influential shareholder advisory group recommended investors vote against the re-election of chairman John Allan. PIRC has said that Allan, who is also chair of Tesco, “cannot effectively represent two corporate cultures…the possibility of having to commit additional time to [...]