Aisle be damned: The knives are out for big UK grocers January 9, 2019 Aldi and Lidl’s tills jingled all the way in December – handing them their highest-ever combined market share for the festive season, data from Kantar Worldpanel showed this week. All the major supermarkets lost market share in the 12 weeks to 30 December as Aldi’s sales jumped 10.4 per cent while Lidl’s were up 9.4 [...]
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 [...]
SFO scales back probe into Rolls-Royce January 7, 2019 The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has dropped its investigation into a number of individuals associated with British engineering giant Rolls-Royce. Sky News originally reported that a number of people who were suspects in the SFO's investigation have been informed that they are no longer under investigation. Rolls-Royce entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the SFO [...]
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 [...]
Wall Street shares plummet after Apple warning over China slowdown January 3, 2019 Wall Street shares have plummeted in response to Apple’s warning over a slowdown in China. All three major US indices tumbled on opening as Apple’s nine per cent fall caused another painful day for investors. The tech giant said lower demand for its products in China and the country’s economic deceleration were to blame for [...]
The rise in popularity of recipe boxes is just the beginning of a revolution in food-prep convenience. Here’s what’s next December 20, 2018 Humans love to cook, ever since a caveman accidentally roasted his own forearm on a bonfire and reckoned it smelled kind of delicious. From there it was a short jump to cooking meat that wasn’t attached to our arms. Soon ancient humans were experimenting by throwing bigger and bigger animals on to the flames. Mice [...]
SFO director Lisa Osofsky wants agency to crack down on ‘corporate big boys’ December 18, 2018 The director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has said she wants the agency to be able to go after the "corporate big boys" who typically evade prosecution for economic crime and fraud. Ex-FBI lawyer turned SFO director Lisa Osofsky told the Justice Select Committee that senior individuals within large corporate organisations were not being [...]
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 [...]