Why Sainsbury’s is SocGen’s favourite supermarket January 22, 2014 When it came to supermarkets’ Christmas performance in the UK, the discounters claimed the victory. Aldi and Lidl saw sales leap, both increasing their market shares. It was good news for high-end store Waitrose, too, which also saw a bumper festive period. It’s the Big Four – or, at least, three of them (Tesco, Asda [...]
Former Matalan boss Darren Blackhurst decides to B&Q-it January 21, 2014 DIY CHAIN B&Q said yesterday it has hired former Matalan chief executive Darren Blackhurst as commercial director as it makes further changes to its management team. The moves marks an unusual step back for Blackhurst, who was a leading contender to replace former Asda chief executive Andy Bond in 2010 and has spent two years [...]
Former Matalan boss Darren Blackhurst decides to B&Q-it January 21, 2014 After a six month silence, the former chief executive of Matalan Darren Blackhurst has popped back over the parapet, this time as commercial director of DIY chain B&Q. The moves marks an unusual step back for Blackhurst, who was a leading contender to replace former Asda chief executive Andy Bond back in 2010 (a role [...]
Fat Face moves closer to stock market debut January 20, 2014 Clothes shop Fat Face is ratcheting up its plans to seek a listing on the London Stock Exchange, and has brought in a slew of bankers to advise on a possible flotation. Bridgepoint, the private equity group that owns Fat Face, hired financial advisory group Lazard in December to assess options. And after strong Christmas [...]
Fancy a taste of James’ Britpop? | City A.M. January 15, 2014 CAN YOU remember what 1993 tasted like? Well, if you’re curious, Blur bassist-cum-cheese wizard Alex James has applied to trademark a new drink – called Britpop. The application doesn’t give away any clues as to what the drink will taste like but we can just imagine the Cool Britannia branding now. It’s not the first [...]
Morrisons loses market share to its competitors January 14, 2014 WM MORRISON’S troubles over Christmas were further underscored yesterday by figures that showed that the grocer was the only one of the big four supermarkets to suffer a fall in overall sales in the past 12 weeks. Kantar Worldpanel data showed the retailer’s market share dropped to 11.5 per cent in the 12 weeks to [...]
Fancy a taste of James’ Britpop? January 12, 2014 CAN YOU remember what 1993 tasted like? Well, if you’re curious, Blur bassist-cum-cheese wizard Alex James has applied to trademark a new drink – called Britpop. The application doesn’t give away any clues as to what the drink will taste like but we can just imagine the Cool Britannia branding now. It’s not the first [...]
Moller-Maersk sells off £1.9bn grocery holding January 7, 2014 MOLLER-MAERSK is dropping shopping for shipping by selling off most of its stake in Netto’s parent company for around 17bn kroner (£1.9bn). Chief executive Nils Andersen is cutting the focus of the firm to shipping, port services and its oil unit. The Danish conglomerate will hand over a 49 per cent stake in Dansk Supermarked [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 06 January 2014 January 6, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Europe to ease reform on bank splits Brussels is set to ease financial reforms so that big European banks are not forced automatically to split lending operations from risky trading. In a draft European Commission proposal, seen by the Financial Times, the separation is no longer mandatory, would be less costly and restrictive [...]
Is the Christmas shopping boost to retail sales really that positive? December 18, 2013 Retail sales picked up significant pace in the first half of December, as shoppers took a pre-Christmas breather in October and November before the festive rush. The Confederation of British Industry's Distributive Trades Survey came in at 34, rocketing past November's figure of one, the consensus forecast of 10, and matching September's 15-month high. Orders [...]