5 things you didn’t know about new Sainsbury’s boss Mike Coupe January 29, 2014 Sainsbury's CEO Justin King is leaving the supermarket in July – but what do we know about his replacement and current commercial director, Mike Coupe? 1. A country boy at heart, Coupe was born in Watford in 1960 but was brought up in West Sussex. His mum was a housewife and his dad was an [...]
Tesco and Waitrose set to open Tube shops January 29, 2014 Tesco and Waitrose are opening six click-and-collect points each in the London Underground this year, as part of TfL’s efforts to get more retailers using the Tube. The supermarkets will follow Asda, which is running a six-month trial in carparks near Tube stations, with ambitions to open more outlets. Tesco will launch at station car [...]
Partnerships may be the big trend in 2014 January 26, 2014 Annabel Palmer talks to MediaCom’s Karen Blackett WHEN Karen Blackett, UK chief executive of MediaCom, got her first big break in 1993, it was over a year before Wired magazine launched the first ever ad on the World Wide Web. She talks to City A.M. about her career, adapting to a rapidly-changing industry, and the [...]
British Land sells shopping centre January 22, 2014 British Land said yesterday it has sold its Eastgate Shopping Centre in Basildon to property investment group Infrared Capital Partners for £88.6m. The 700,000 square feet shopping centre is anchored by an Asda supermarket and a Debenhams department store, and also has two office buildings and a 696 space multi-storey car park. Head of retail [...]
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 [...]