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 [...]
Ex-Asda chief joins food group Bigham’s September 23, 2012 ALLAN Leighton, the former boss of Asda and the Royal Mail, has joined the board of Charlie Bigham’s, the upmarket ready meal maker, as a non-executive director. The London-based food group, which employs over 200 staff and turns over around £24m a year, said it hopes bringing Leighton on board will help it reach its [...]
Morrisons profit rises in tough market September 6, 2012 Britain’s fourth-largest supermarket Morrisons posted first-half profit towards the top end of forecasts and said it was on track to meet its expectations for the year even though it anticipated no let-up in pressure on the consumer. Morrisons, which trails Tesco, Wal-Mart’s Asda and J Sainsbury by annual sales, said today it made an underlying [...]
Lloyds ploughs £20m into new restaurant fund September 3, 2012 LLOYDS Banking Group’s private equity arm said yesterday it has agreed to provide £20m for a new restaurant fund set up by the former boss of The Clapham House Group. Paul Campbell is setting up the fund through his vehicle Hill Capital in partnership with LDC to invest in restaurant businesses with a small number [...]