Have Asda execs been stress eating with James Martin ahead of first quarter results? May 15, 2016 Has Asda chief Andy Clarke been eating his feelings? The Big Four retail giant has struck up a delicious partnership with former Saturday Kitchen star James Martin. Last month the Yorkshire foodie figure rustled up a strawberry gateau with Asda boss Andy Clarke at the InterContinental Hotel on Park Lane in London, marking the start of a new marketing partnership [...]
FTSE 100 narrowly avoids fourth consecutive week of decline May 13, 2016 The FTSE 100 reversed early losses on Friday, but was held back by losses at Inmarsat and Coca Cola HBC. That's not bad for a Friday 13th. The FTSE 100 before today had closed lower on eight out of the past 11 of them. The UK's benchmark index closed at 6,138 points, with Inmarsat one of the largest fallers. While the FTSE [...]
Every little helps: Tesco chief executive to grab £3m bonus May 13, 2016 Tesco’s chief executive has been awarded an annual bonus of nearly £3m, the company's annual report, published this morning, revealed. The award, which represents 96 per cent of Lewis's maxmimum payout, comes after Tesco moved back into pre-tax profit last year following a record £6.4bn annual loss in 2014. Read more: Is Tesco ringing up the changes? Lewis [...]
Sports Direct has extended its Debenhams put option May 12, 2016 Sports Direct International has extended its Debenhams put option by a year – meaning shareholders in Mike Ashley's retailer will continue to be concerned with the fate of the department store, whether they like it or not. Sports Direct entered into the original agreement with Goldman Sachs in 2014. The stake was built up to 16.6 [...]
Supermarket wines from Aldi, Asda, Tesco, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer and others uncork victory at International Wine Challenge May 11, 2016 Supermarket wines won big yesterday at the 2016 International Wine Challenge (IWC), with budget grocers Aldi and Asda joining premium brands such as Waitrose and Marks & Spencer in the gold-winning big leagues. Gold medals were award to 28 wines created for supermarkets in total at the world-renowned competition, which included offerings from Aldi, Asda, [...]
After the EU’s O2-Three merger decision, five questions for the UK mobile market May 11, 2016 Hutchison’s bid for O2 has been turned down in Europe. Here are five questions the UK mobile market is asking today Continued competition… Ofcom initially rejected the merger based on evidence that fewer competitors results in less pressure to keep prices down. It’s that same fear which informed today’s decision, despite assurances from Hutchison of a five year [...]
Visa Europe records three billion contactless payments over the last 12 months May 10, 2016 Card company Visa has recorded three billion contactless transactions in Europe over the past year. In April alone, European consumers used their cards 360m times, clocking in at almost 140 transactions per second. Contactless now accounts for one in every five Visa card payments in Europe, up from one in 60 in 2013. In the [...]
Unruly founder crowned winner at Oscars for women in business… but beware the awards curse May 9, 2016 Sarah Wood, the founder of Unruly, triumphed at last night's Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Awards. Touted as the Oscars for women in business, Wood fought off competition from Trainline chief Claire Gilmartin and British make-up artist and cosmetic firm founder Charlotte Tilbury to win the award. Cassandra Stavrou, founder and chief executive of Propercorn, meanwhile, [...]
Post Office apologises after major glitch shuts down counter services across the country May 9, 2016 A major technical glitch meant thousands of people were turned away at Post Office branches around the country today. Customers hoping to pay bills, post packages or collect benefits claimed the outage was affecting branches nationwide, with many saying they had tried a number of branches before giving up, but the group insisted it was only [...]
Can you blame employers for cutting benefits and perks because of the National Living Wage? May 9, 2016 Since the introduction on 1 April 2016 of the National Living Wage (NLW) there’ve been plenty of employers in the news for making cuts to staff perks. Le Pain Quotidian, Zizzi, Caffe Nero, Eat, Tesco, the John Lewis Partnership and B&Q have all cut back on certain benefits. Most of these businesses have denied that the changes are being introduced because of the NLW, but either [...]