British Chambers of Commerce names John Longworth new director general July 25, 2011 LEADING industry group the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) yesterday unveiled John Longworth (pictured) as its new director general, taking over from David Frost. Longworth joins the BCC after an extensive series of high profile roles in the British retail sector. Formerly a senior executive at both Asda and Tesco, he is currently a non-exec of [...]
Public spending still over half of GDP July 21, 2011 ED Miliband should be happy: Britain officially remains a state-dominated economy. For all the talk of “swingeing” cuts, public spending is set to remain at 50.1 per cent of GDP in 2011, according to the latest OECD predictions. This is an astonishing figure: more than half the economy, which by one definition means that the [...]
Public spending still over half of GDP July 20, 2011 ED Miliband should be happy: Britain officially remains a state-dominated economy. For all the talk of “swingeing” cuts, public spending is set to remain at 50.1 per cent of GDP in 2011, according to the latest OECD predictions. This is an astonishing figure: more than half the economy, which by one definition means that the [...]
Aldi and Lidl grow their market share July 19, 2011 DISCOUNT supermarkets have grown their market shares as cash-strapped customers seek out bargains. Aldi and Lidl saw strong market share growth in the 12 weeks to 10 July, according to figures from the Kantar Worldpanel. Aldi achieved a 20.2 per cent rise in UK market share to 3.5 per cent. Lidl’s share rose 15.6 per [...]
Price war sees petrol tumble July 3, 2011 PETROL prices fell by over two pence per litre last week, according to data seen by City A.M. A combination of supermarket price wars and a sharp fall in the global price of oil saw the average price of unleaded drop from over 136p per litre to 133.82p. Diesel declined from almost 140p per litre [...]
Supermarket giants signal woe June 28, 2011 Two bulwarks of the retail sector, Asda and Sainsbury, painted a bleak picture of the UK retail economy yesterday. Consumers are in recession, Asda’s chief financial officer told a conference. “Do I expect it to improve any time soon? No, I do not,” said Judith McKenna. Her views were echoed by Sainsbury finance director John [...]
Asda joins the petrol price war June 27, 2011 ASDA yesterday cut its fuel price for the second time in a week, sparking talks of a war at the pumps. The supermarket cut 2p from the cost of a litre of petrol, taking it down to 128.7p and 132.7p for diesel. Sainsbury’s quickly matched the cut, taking 2p a litre off from last night. [...]
Andy Hornby eyed for Coral June 26, 2011 ANDY Hornby, the former chief executive of Alliance Boots, has been named as a frontrunner for the top job at Coral, the bookmaker. Hornby, 44, stood down from Alliance Boots, owner of the high street chemist, in March, after saying he needed “a few months’ break”. However, according to weekend reports, he is tipped to [...]
Survey reveals stagnation on the high street June 23, 2011 RETAIL sales stagnated in June, knocking hopes for growth on the British high street. Annualised sales failed to grow for the first time in a year, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) revealed yesterday. While a third of retailers reported higher sales than the same time last year, 34 per cent said that sales were [...]
Asda loses market share as Lidl and Aldi shore up their position June 21, 2011 ASDA’S share of the UK grocery market fell from 16.7 per cent to 16.3 per cent in the 12 weeks to 13 June, according to figures from Kantar Worldpanel. The figures show that the Wal-Mart-owned chain is now only marginally ahead of Sainsbury’s, which held its share steady at 16.2 per cent. Discount stores Aldi [...]