Takeover interest mounts over Sainsbury’s £1.9bn mortgage book December 12, 2019 Grocery giant Sainsbury’s has reportedly received several offers for its £1.9bn mortgage book. The Big Four supermarket chain has attracted a number of bidders as it looks to quit the home-loans market, according to Sky News. The broadcaster said that Lloyds Banking Group is understood to be among the interested parties in the auction, which [...]
Amazon strengthens dominance of UK e-commerce market December 10, 2019 Online retail giant Amazon increased its dominance of the UK e-commerce market this year, according to the latest research. Amazon boosted its market share from 28.8 per cent in 2018 to 30.1 per cent this year, accounting for $30bn in sales. Read more: Amazon nets Champions League rights The next largest player in the UK, [...]
Lidl sales help it hit record stake in UK supermarket sector December 10, 2019 The biggest supermarkets shed yet more market share to discounters Aldi and Lidl in the three months to the start of December, new data out today reveals. The big four grocers saw their collective market share drop by over one per cent to 67.7 per cent as people delayed their Christmas shopping and Black Friday [...]
Tesco leads FTSE 100 risers as it weighs up Asia sale December 9, 2019 Shares in Tesco rose more than five per cent in early trading today, as investors welcomed reports that the company is exploring a sale of its Asian businesses. The supermarket giant has confirmed that it will launch a strategic review of options for its businesses in Thailand and Malaysia, including a potential sale. Read more: [...]
Tesco mulls sale of Thailand and Malaysia operations December 8, 2019 Tesco is mulling the sale of its business in Thailand and Malaysia, the supermarket giant confirmed today. The grocer said it had launched a review of the strategic options for the two Asian divisions, where it operates under the Tesco Lotus brand, “including an evaluation of a possible sale”. Read more: Tesco chief resigns after [...]
Celebrating a brand’s heritage can improve public perception December 4, 2019 As the year draws to a close, 2019 has seen some well-known British brands celebrate anniversaries and centenaries. Two of Britain’s largest supermarkets, Tesco and Sainsbury’s celebrated their 100th and 150-year anniversaries respectively, while British Airways also celebrated its 100th year of trading. Camelot, which owns the National Lottery and Euromillions, was another to celebrated [...]
Avoiding the mistakes of the British Steel pension scandal December 4, 2019 For those of us who haven’t been blessed with gold-plated pensions, the mere thought of sacrificing a guaranteed income in retirement might seem insane. So it may come as a surprise that around 210,000 people transferred out of defined benefit pension schemes in 2018/19, more than double compared to the previous year, according to figures [...]
Petrol prices fall for the fourth consecutive month in November December 4, 2019 Petrol prices fell for the fourth month in a row in November, with the average price of a litre of unleaded now 3.3p less than at the beginning of August. The average price for unleaded fell 0.48p to 125.93p, with diesel showing a similar drop in price from 130.27p to 129.83p, according to the RAC’s [...]
It’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities, and we need more inclusion in society December 3, 2019 As I type, it is impossible not to be reminded that my ability to do so — as someone who is registered blind — is because of the typewriter’s role as a 200-year-old example of disability inclusion. Early iterations of what led to perhaps the most ubiquitously used invention in the world — the keyboard [...]
Ranked: Britain’s best and worst bank accounts November 30, 2019 Brits now enjoy a larger choice of bank accounts than ever before, with rival offerings from time-honoured high street stalwarts to exciting new fintech upstarts. But if the choice at times seems overwhelming, a new league table has revealed which banks score highly for customer service and communication – and which leave a lot to [...]