Tesco set for a Christmas tussle to win back customers November 6, 2012 TOWARDS the end of last year I discussed in this column how 2011 had seen Tesco’s brand perception scores fall throughout the year. As we would expect to see, perceptions proceeded sales. Tesco’s January announcement that its sales had dropped led to a sell-off that knocked around 100p from Tesco’s share price. This is a [...]
Supermarkets to sell Skype credit November 4, 2012 While retailers are rushing to expand their online presence, Skype, the internet phone service, announced today it is making a move onto the UK high street in a tie-up with five supermarkets to sell credit in stores. The US firm, which has 254m connected users per month, said it is to sell £10 or £20 [...]
Where to get spooked in the City tomorrow October 29, 2012 WITH Halloween almost upon us, supermarket Asda has conjured up some facts and figures on the annual fright night. Given that the 31 October was a rather insignificant day in the British diary 10 years ago, The Capitalist was surprised to learn that the UK Halloween market is now worth £300m. Poor old Guy Fawkes [...]
Matalan names Allan Leighton as its chairman October 16, 2012 FORMER Asda boss and Royal Mail chairman Allan Leighton is to join the board of Matalan as chairman, the discount fashion and homeware retailer said yesterday as it posted robust second quarter sales. The highly-regarded Leighton will replace John Mills, who has been in the role for six years and will now become deputy chairman. [...]
Paralympic win for Sainsbury’s as its sales rise October 9, 2012 J SAINSBURY’S sponsorship of the Paralympic Games and Brand Match campaign has helped the British supermarket steal market share from its three biggest rivals. New figures from industry experts Kantar Worldpanel showed that Sainsbury’s sales rose 5.6 per cent in the 12 weeks to 30 September, boosting its share of the UK grocery market to [...]
Tesco posts 10.5 per cent profit drop October 3, 2012 Tesco posted a 10.5 per cent drop in first-half trading profit this morning. Over the six months to 25 August, profit came in at to £1.6bn. A £1bn capital investment programme, to stem a decline in market share to chains such as Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons, was largely responsible for the firm’s first fall in [...]
British Land sells Cambridge mall October 1, 2012 British Land said yesterday it has sold the Beehive Centre in Cambridge to Orchard Street Investment Management for £109.2m. The 238,000 square feet retail park, bought by British Land in 1998, is anchored by a 70,000 sq ft Asda store and has 15 other tenants including TK Maxx and Next Home. Orchard Street said the [...]
Auto-enrolment begins to shake up UK pensions September 30, 2012 BUSINESS lobbies, unions, and pension funds have backed pensions minister Steve Webb’s auto-enrolment scheme, as it is rolled out this morning. From today, firms with more than 120,000 employees must enrol all staff in a pension scheme, and by 2018 all employees earning enough to pay national insurance will have to be put in a [...]
Growth hopes boosted by raft of upbeat data September 26, 2012 THE PROSPECTS for growth over the third quarter were boosted yesterday, as insolvencies declined, while retail sales edged up. High street sales volumes grew in September, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said in its distributive trades survey yesterday. Thirty-three per cent of respondents said their sales volumes had grown, compared to 27 per cent [...]
Tesco displaying recovery signs after its shock profit warning September 25, 2012 TESCO, the world’s third biggest retailer, said a recovery plan to recapture home market share was making an impact after a shock profit warning, backing up industry data showing evidence of success in its fight-back against rivals. Once one of the most consistent British companies in terms of earnings growth, Tesco stunned investors in January [...]