Just one country remains in Tesco’s decades-long global retreat Retail Tesco’s sale of its Czech and Slovak businesses is the latest step in its long retreat from a once-sprawling global presence. Felix Armstrong traces this journey Tesco’s hold on the British grocery market is unmatched. Holding a towering 27.8 per cent market share across more than 3,600 shops, the supermarket chain is a fixture on [...]
Healey’s business rate tweaks won’t stop ‘hollowing out’ high street, business group warns Retail John Healey’s changes to high street business rates are a “sticking plaster” that will not reverse the “hollowing out” of town centres across the country, the boss of Britain’s largest business group has warned. In his maiden Budget this week, the Chancellor said he would lift the threshold at which small firms receive business rates [...]
Tesco retreats from Europe with £1.5bn sale of Czech and Slovak divisions Retail Tesco has agreed to sell its businesses in the Czech Republic and Slovakia to a Dutch supermarket giant in a billion-pound deal. The UK’s largest grocer said today it would sell its operations in the two European countries to Ahold Delhaize in a deal worth €1.7bn (£1.5bn), in what marks the company’s latest retreat from [...]
‘Smoke and mirrors’: Why high street still faces a £250m tax hike under Healey October 29, 2026 Andy Burnham propelled himself to Downing Street by pledging a revival of Britain’s struggling high streets. Felix Armstrong asks: has John Healey delivered it? Among the sectors clamouring for John Healey’s attention ahead of his maiden Budget, none were louder than those calling for the government to revitalise Britain’s ailing high street retailers. Shuttered shops, [...]
Toast the City Awards celebrated with excellent wine: Here’s what October 28, 2026 City AM celebrated the 2nd annual Toast the City Awards last week with a packed out ceremony – with the wine supplied by All (good) Things Last week’s Toast The City Awards were an absolute triumph as hundreds celebrated the best spaces, places and people making our historic Square Mile the beautiful, brilliant place it [...]
John Healey is a beer man. Does this spell good news for pubs? October 27, 2026 Geoffrey Howe sipped a gin and tonic, Nigel Lawson quaffed a wine spritzer, while George Osborne and Gordon Brown stuck to mineral water. Ahead of his first Budget, one of the many decisions weighing on Chancellor John Healey’s mind will be whether to get a little squiffy at the despatch box. If he does, it [...]
Healey warned ‘the dam is breaking’ on shop price inflation October 27, 2026 The Chancellor has been warned that the “dam is starting to break” on surging shop price inflation, which retailers had kept at bay with heavy discounting. Shop prices rose by 2.1 per cent in the year to October, according to new data from the British Retail Consortium, ahead of September’s 1.4 per cent and the [...]
Supreme to Bring Back Typhoo’s Iconic Gnu for National Advertising Campaign October 26, 2026 Supreme plc, a leading manufacturer, innovator and distributor of fast-moving consumer goods, is pleased to announce that its heritage tea brand Typhoo is bringing back its iconic Gnu character 50 years after he first appeared on British television, with a new national advertising campaign launching in November 2026. This press release features multimedia. View the [...]
Monkey Shoulder is winning over a new generation of whisky drinkers October 26, 2026 The slow burn success of this playful malt has inspired a bevvy of rival brands to enter the category. But Monkey Shoulder’s fans are not drinking it because it’s a blended malt. For many it is just a cool, lifestyle brand discovers Tom Bruce-Gardyne. That cheeky, fun-loving malt from William Grant & Sons, known as Monkey [...]
Top court rejects Tesco appeal in ‘equal pay’ case October 23, 2026 The Supreme Court has blocked Tesco from appealing a key ruling in a long-running equal pay claim brought by more than 16,000 shop workers. Tesco is one of several UK supermarkets caught in a legal battle over allegations that it underpays its store workers, mainly women, compared with distribution centre workers, who are mostly men. [...]