Ex-Asda bosses Archie Norman and Allan Leighton linked to Morrisons chairman role July 27, 2014 Former Asda bosses Archie Norman and Allan Leighton are said to be in the running to become the new chairman of troubled supermarket chain Morrisons. Norman and Leighton were credited with reversing Asda’s fortunes in the 1990s and are both seen as plausible candidates to help revive the chain, which has been losing market share [...]
UK retail sales on the rise in July July 23, 2014 Summer is smiling on the British high street as the good weather boosted retail sales beyond last months figure and above the expectations of a group of economists polled by Reuters. The Confederation of British Industry surveyed 133 different retailers and found that 46 per cent of retailers said sales volumes rose in the year to [...]
Dividend fears hit Tesco shares July 22, 2014 SHARES in Tesco slumped nearly four per cent yesterday on fears that dividends could be cut as analysts called for a complete overhaul in strategy under its new chief executive. JP Morgan analysts said Unilever director Dave Lewis, due to take over from Philip Clarke in October, would have to reset its UK margins from [...]
Too big to succeed? How Tesco’s new leader can take on the toxic retailer July 21, 2014 The last-minute cancellation of his “40 years at Tesco” party suggests that Philip Clarke’s departure came as a big surprise. But in truth, his future at Tesco had been looking increasingly bleak for months. The man himself conceded as much in March, with his surprise statement at a conference that his days as chief executive [...]
Disposable income stagnant despite rapid economic growth July 21, 2014 UK disposable incomes have risen by just £1 per week in the last year, according to gloomy figures released by Asda this morning. Despite economic growth, real incomes are still not rising, and Asda’s tracker suggests that the typical household’s discretionary income rose from £170 to just £171 a week in the year to June. [...]
Ex-Boots boss Richard Baker to take up chair at Whitbread July 16, 2014 Costa Coffee and Premier Inn owner Whitbread has appointed one of its non-executive directors, the former Boots chief executive Richard Baker, to take over as chairman. Baker, who has sat on the board since 2009, will replace Whitbread’s longserving chairman Anthony Habgood in September. Habgood announced in January that he would be retiring after nine [...]
Jobs at risk in Asda shake-up July 3, 2014 ASDA announced a huge shake-up of its management structure yesterday that was likely to lead to 1,360 redundancies. The cuts are being made to help create more flexible management structures across Asda’s 578 UK stores and follow proposals laid out last May when it initially said 2,600 jobs were at risk. Chief executive Andy Clarke [...]
Asda to cut 1,360 jobs in management restructure July 3, 2014 Asda has announced that it will be making 1,360 employees redundant over the next three months. The supermarket chain, which is owned by US-based Walmart, had previously said that there would be job losses but did not confirm the number until now. The cuts are being made to help create more flexible management structures across [...]
Morrisons and Tesco lose grip on market share and sales July 1, 2014 Morrisons and Tesco have both suffered another heavy fall in sales and market share in the last 12 weeks despite efforts to slash prices and win customers back into their stores. Data released yesterday from Kantar Worldpanel showed that overall grocery market grew by 2.8 per cent year-on-year in the 12 weeks to 22 June, [...]
As Ocado posts a half-year profit, will the business now go from strength to strength? July 1, 2014 Jonathan Jackson, a partner and head of equities at Killik & Co, says Yes. Ocado offers a unique way to play the expected strong growth in the UK online grocery market. The group offers investors the potential to benefit from its industry-leading intellectual property, built up over 13 years of investment in technology, to more [...]