Bonuses slashed at Sainsbury’s and M&S June 7, 2012 The chief executives of major retailers J Sainsbury and Marks & Spencer have both taken cuts in their bonuses after failing to meet targets and as recession forces them to scale back growth plans. Philip Clarke, head of rival Tesco, last month forewent his annual bonus, paying the price for a weak performance in the [...]
London is ready to party May 31, 2012 Everywhere you turned yesterday there seemed to be rows and rows of festive flags of red, white and blue appearing in place for Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. People strolling along Oxford Street could hardly fail to notice the abundance of bunting, crowns and token corgis on display as retailers clamour to lure customers in [...]
CITY VIEWS | WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THE PASTY TAX U-TURN? May 29, 2012 HOWARD WATT FIDELITY I bought a pasty from Greggs this morning and it did seem a little expensive, but it’s still much cheaper than a lot of the other food that is being sold in the City. I think booze and cigarettes should be taxed to encourage healthy lifestyles and pasties are quite fattening too. To [...]
Ex-Dixons boss lands £36m for joining Apple May 27, 2012 JOHN BROWETT, the former boss of Dixons, is to receive a $56m (£36m) golden hello from Apple for taking charge of the tech giant’s network of stores around the world. Browett, who has been at the helm of the struggling British electronics group since 2007, moved to California last month after he was poached by [...]
How to get cheaper car insurance May 27, 2012 KNOWLEDGE is power. And the first thing to know about car insurance is that getting it is a negotiation. In any negotiation, access to information is rarely symmetrical. Those with greater knowledge have more power and in this instance it’s impossible to know more than each firm. This is why you need to shop around. [...]
InterContinental names Cescau as chairman May 25, 2012 Unilever veteran Patrick Cescau is to become the new chairman of the world’s biggest hotelier InterContinental Hotels Group at the beginning of next year following the retirement of the 67-year old David Webster. French born Cescau, aged 63, spent 35 years working for the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant culminating in his role as chief executive [...]
Ocado sales growth accelerates May 23, 2012 Online British supermarket Ocado posted an acceleration in sales growth in its second quarter, raising hopes it has got to grips with bottlenecks at its distribution centre that led to a string of profit downgrades last year. Shares in Ocado, whose range includes products supplied by upmarket grocer Waitrose jumped 6.8 per cent on Wednesday [...]
CITY VIEWS | HAS MARKS & SPENCER LOST ITS SPARK? May 22, 2012 PORTOLEIO MATTHEW CHARTIS I don’t think so. Its retail services are very good so this is just due to reduced profitability in the economy. If you compare it with Sainsbury or Tesco it is a much higher value brand and its bakery is exceptional. NATASHA RUSKINA IG GROUP No. I think this dip is just [...]
Waitrose and budget grocers outpace rivals May 22, 2012 TESCO AND MORRISONS’ market shares are still under pressure from fierce competition, retail data showed yesterday, as upmarket and discount retailers outpaced the middle market. Kantar Worldpanel figures for the 12 weeks to 13 May 2012 revealed that Aldi grew sales by more than 25 per cent compared with the same period last year, achieving [...]
Tesco’s Philip Clarke waives annual bonus May 22, 2012 PHILIP CLARKE, Tesco’s chief executive, said he would forgo his £372,000 annual bonus after the retailer’s weak UK performance last year prompted its first profit warning in 20 years. “I decided at the beginning of the year that I would decline my annual bonus for 2012,” Clarke said in a statement yesterday. “I wasn’t satisfied [...]