Tesco slashed the price of milk. Here’s how dairy farmers have responded March 3, 2014 Dairy farmers have accused Tesco of sparking a price war with its supermarket rivals that will cause further damage to an already fragile dairy industry, after the retail giant slashed the price of milk. Britain’s biggest food retailer delivered a fresh broadside in the battle for customers’ loyalty after cutting the price of a four [...]
Asda staff in line for £28m bonus February 27, 2014 Asda is to pay out £27.8m in staff bonuses today, with some employees receiving up to £500 after the Walmart-owned chain published results last week showing a slowdown in fourth quarter sales. Some 142,600 staff who have worked over six months at Asda will receive a bonus of up to £320 while 14,000 colleagues from [...]
Tesco retreats as Clarke puts the brakes on February 25, 2014 Supermarket pulls out of the space race with plans to slash spending and cut prices TESCO’S chief executive pledged yesterday to put the brakes on its UK expansion and spend £200m slashing prices as Britain’s biggest grocer seeks to revive sales and win back falling market share. Speaking at an investor conference, Philip Clarke laid [...]
Venture capitalists pour £25m into big data firm eCommera February 24, 2014 FAST growing retail technology company eCommera, which works with huge retailers like Asda and House of Fraser, has secured a further $41m (£25m) in funding from investors, it said yesterday. The company, based in London, said investors like Sir Martin Sorrell’s WPP had put more cash into the company alongside backers such as West Coast [...]
Lloyds brings in the machines with plan for mini-banks February 20, 2014 LLOYDS is looking at setting up a range of mini-branches across London with fewer staff and more machines, City A.M. understands. The aim is to plugs gaps in the bank’s coverage across the capital, while keeping costs low. It marks a new stage in the banking sector’s plans to cope as branches receive fewer visits [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 21 February 2014 February 20, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Business Wire halts high speed traders Business Wire, which has published corporate news releases in the US for the last half century, will stop selling direct feeds to high-speed traders, amid concerns that the practice gives the firms an unfair advantage over other investors. Warren Buffett, whose conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway owns Business Wire, [...]
Asda hurt by first sales drop in three years February 20, 2014 ASDA chief executive Andy Clarke yesterday admitted it had been a “tough year” after the supermarket chain reported its first fall in sales for three years. The Walmart owned chain said like-for-like sales fell 0.1 per cent in the 13 weeks to 3 January, compared to the same period a year ago, marking its first [...]
You won’t recognise your high street bank in five years’ time February 20, 2014 Small branches with more machines than staff are the future of banking for Britain’s biggest lenders, as Lloyds joins Barclays in creating a new kind of store. Lloyds is understood to be looking into opening new branches in London – a radical change from the industry trend of cutting back on expensive stores in favour [...]
Barclays releases key profit figures early February 10, 2014 We've got some early Barclays news. The bank has released some key figures ahead of its full year results (due tomorrow at 7.00am). Within the results, Barclays will announce adjusted profit before tax for 2013 of £5.2bn and statutory profit before tax of £2.9bn. Barclays' pre-released figures don’t factor in additional charges for litigation and [...]
Asda boss Andy Clarke’s 4 top leadership tips | City A.M. February 6, 2014 Speaking last night at the British Retail Consortium’s Future Retail Leader’s event, Asda chief executive Andy Clarke gave an account of his journey to the top – starting with the day he left school with just one O Level in English at 15. Realising he had spent too much time on the rugby pitch in [...]