Supermarket visits fall on coronavirus face mask rules August 18, 2020 British shoppers paid fewer visits to supermarkets in the wake of new rules making face masks mandatory, new data has revealed. The number of visits to UK supermarkets was 2m lower than expected in the week after the rule was adopted, according to Kantar. Charlotte Scott, Kantar’s consumer insight director, said the decline showed people [...]
Ranked: Monzo and Starling top list of best UK banks August 17, 2020 Digital fintechs Monzo and Starling are better than traditional banks at providing the best service to personal banking customers, according to a recent survey. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) conducted a survey of around 1,000 customers of each of the 19 largest personal current account providers in Britain to rank the best and worst [...]
The City View: City A.M. co-founder Lawson Muncaster on returning the newspaper to print August 17, 2020 Subscribe to The City View Podcast: Apple / Google / Spotify / RSS In this episode Christian is joined by Lawson Muncaster, co-founder and managing director of City A.M., to discuss the challenges posed by the last five months and the decision to return to print for Monday 7 September. Lawson discusses how the company adapted to survive; what life could look [...]
Tesco introduces free delivery as it prepares to confront Amazon August 16, 2020 Tesco will introduce free delivery in its latest bid to head off Amazon’s attempt to muscle in on the British grocery market. Tesco boss Dave Lewis today told the Sunday Telegraph that the supermarket will add free delivery to its Clubcard Plus loyalty scheme. It comes after the technology giant announced last month it would [...]
Fuel prices rise for second consecutive month as oil price steadies August 4, 2020 The average price of petrol and diesel rose for the second consecutive month in July, adding nearly £2 to a fill up, according to RAC Fuel Watch data. The second consecutive month of price rises means unleaded is now 7p a litre more expensive than it was at the end of May, while diesel is [...]
Business rates aren’t fit for purpose but Rishi Sunak’s digital tax is a sticking plaster, not a solution July 30, 2020 Long before the coronavirus pandemic, our high streets were struggling. Faced with the rise of online sales, many well-known retailers were either closing stores, entering a form of insolvency known as a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), or falling into administration. The oft-quoted analysis of this demise was that the costs of running a physical store [...]
Amazon Fresh: What does the expansion mean for UK supermarkets? July 28, 2020 Amazon’s announcement that it will offer free grocery deliveries for Prime customers represents a step up in competition between the internet giant and the UK supermarkets. The US company, which bought upmarket grocery chain Whole Foods in 2018, will offer free Amazon Fresh delivery in London and the South East from today. Plans are in [...]
A digital tax is no way to reward our innovative online retailers July 28, 2020 Throughout lockdown, the advantages — indeed, the essentiality — of online retail became clear. Now, Rishi Sunak is rumoured to be mulling over a new online sales tax. Advocates for this new tax, such as SportsDirect owner Mike Ashley and Tesco boss Dave Lewis, believe that the existing business rates system creates an uneven playing [...]
Markets live: FTSE 100 and US stocks drop sharply as US-China tensions flare July 24, 2020 The FTSE 100 and US stocks fell after US-China relations soured and rising coronavirus cases threatened the global economic recovery. London’s blue-chip index closed 1.4 per cent lower at 6,124 points, despite some better-than-expected economic data. The FTSE 250 closed 1.3 per cent down. Read more: Asian shares retreat as US-China tensions sour Germany’s Dax [...]
Supermarket growth slows as shoppers return to pre-lockdown habits July 21, 2020 Grocery sales in the the UK rose 14.6 per cent year-on-year in the four weeks to 12 July, but lost the momentum seen at the beginning of lockdown as restaurants, pubs and cafes were allowed to reopen. Supermarket sales slipped from 18.9 per cent growth the previous month, as shoppers tentatively returned to their normal [...]