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 [...]
Supermarkets slump as half of UK shoppers head to discounters December 17, 2013 FOR THE first time ever, more than half of the UK shopped in either an Aldi or Lidl in the last three months, putting pressure on bigger retailers as the shift toward discount shopping continues unabated. Sales at Aldi surged by 30.7 per cent in the 12 weeks to 8 December while its smaller discount rival [...]
Supermarket fuel war reignites as Tesco and Asda drop prices December 17, 2013 THE SUPERMARKET fuel price war sparked off once again yesterday, after two major chains introduced new price cuts, effective from this morning. Tesco and Asda are both dropping the price of petrol by up to 2p per litre and diesel by 1p per litre. Spokespersons from Morrison’s and Sainsbury’s confirmed yesterday that they were not [...]
London Report: Supermarket slump sees FTSE fall again after Monday’s lift December 17, 2013 BRITAIN’S main equity index fell yesterday, with big supermarket groups hit by fresh signs of a loss of market share, while uncertainty over future US monetary policy also weighed on the market. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed down by 0.6 per cent, or 36.01 points, at 6,486.19 points, retreating after a 1.3 per cent [...]
Supermarket shares slide as customers move to discounters December 17, 2013 More than half of us shopped at Aldi or Lidl in the last 12 weeks for the first time, according to Kantar Worldpanel data. That's seen more premium supermarkets take a hit – Sainsbury's are down by over 2.8 per cent, Tesco by nearly 1.5 per cent, and Morrison has seen a fall of 1.4 [...]
Tesco hit by broker claims that prices rising faster than rivals December 10, 2013 TESCO’S share price faltered yesterday after the group suffered another downgrade from a major broker amid concerns that it has lost its differentiation with its rivals. In a damning note published yesterday, Bernstein analysts said that Tesco has raised prices faster than any of its supermarket competitors since 2010, losing its value credentials along the [...]
British executive takes on fresh international role at Walmart December 10, 2013 WALMART, the world’s biggest retailer, has appointed British executive David Cheesewright as the new CEO of its international division, the firm said yesterday. Cheesewright, 51, is currently head of Walmart’s European, Middle Eastern and African operations. He will take the reins from Doug McMillon, who was chosen to replace Michael Duke as chief executive of [...]