A family affair: How Ben and Ollie Black built their childcare empire June 6, 2016 Two minutes with the Black brothers and Laurel and Hardy come up. “You know, ‘another fine mess you’ve got me into’,” says Oliver Black, describing how he initially conceived of working with his brother. “I spent Christmas trying to convince Ollie that I knew about buying a company,” says Ben Black. The pair bought failing childcare [...]
Putting the super back into the supermarkets: What the Co-op rebrand tells us about the current state of the sector June 1, 2016 The unveiling of the Co-op rebrand last week was the latest sign of a major shift in the supermarket arena. The brand’s decision to revert back to its origins, resurrecting – albeit also modernising – its 1968 logo, was a clear attempt to spark an emotional connection with an audience for whom loyalty is meaning [...]
The supermarket squeeze: Big four supermarkets outperformed by discounters and premium competitors June 1, 2016 The big four food retailers – Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons – are suffering in the supermarket squeeze today as both discount and premium challengers boasted the strongest sales growth. Tesco had the smallest drop in sales of the big four, at 0.1 per cent, and Asda the biggest, with a 5.1 per cent decline in sales. Discounters Aldi and [...]
Aldi taps into UK craft beer market in £600m deal with 18 new offerings May 22, 2016 Cut-price supermarket Aldi has launched a £600m initiative to tap into the UK's burgeoning craft beer industry. From 29 May, the bargain grocer will stock 18 UK brewed craft beers in its English and Welsh stories. The beers will be sold as a "Specialbuy" purchase, meaning a limited number of beers have been brought in as [...]
For Asda boss Andy Clarke, the nadir may be yet to come May 20, 2016 It takes a brave man to call the bottom. It's just so easy to get it wrong. Asda boss Andy Clarke certainly appears to have jumped the gun when he said last August that the Walmart-owned supermarket had reached its “nadir”. At the time, his words were meant to give reassurance that, although the business [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open May 19, 2016 Markets are still reeling from the Fed's warning that they're not taking the possibility of a June interest rate hike seriously enough and ratings agency Moody's has downgraded US growth prospects. Here's what you need to know before the US market open at 2:30pm London time. The pre-market is not looking strong this morning follow [...]
Walmart up, Asda down: First quarter figures show supermarket still failing to get to grips with turnaround plan May 19, 2016 Woes continue for UKsupermarket Asda, which posted yet another quarterly fall in sales. However, Walmart's share price soared 9.2 per cent in morning trading on the back of the wider group's success. The figures Asda posted a 5.7 per cent fall in like-for-like sales for the 13 weeks to 30 March. The drop comes as parent company Walmart posted [...]
Aerobics in the aisles: How supermarkets could solve the obesity crisis, according to Oliver Wyman May 16, 2016 Are the UK's Big Four supermarkets responsible for the obesity crisis? Global management consultancy Oliver Wyman seems to think so. In a report released today, Oliver Wyman has said the Big Four "hold the answer" to the crisis should be using their "considerable influence" to save one million people from being obese and 1.5mn from being [...]
Lloyds Bank leads the London financial sector in British LGBT Awards May 15, 2016 Bravo to bankers at Lloyds – the firm has been crowned the top employer for promoting diversity in this year's LGBT Awards. Lloyds Banking Group, which has a professional LGBT Network of over 3000, was named LGBT Network Group of the Year. The bank saw off stiff competition from the likes of Tesco and PwC. Dubbed [...]
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 [...]