Ocado allows employees to work from abroad for a month August 9, 2021 Ocado Group has announced its employees will be allowed to work remotely from a country of their choosing for up to a month. The online grocer’s Chief People Officer, Claire Ainscough, confirmed the policy in comments to The Times, stating that the company is still encouraging a return to the office. The news comes as [...]
CEO Roger Burnley exits Asda early after £6.8bn acquisition August 6, 2021 Asda has today announced that CEO Roger Burnley has left the company in the midst of its transition to new ownership. Burnley is leaving just months after the UK’s third biggest supermarket group was purchased by the billionaire Issa brothers and the private equity group TDR Capital for £6.8bn. In the process the Issa brothers [...]
Music Magpie posts rise in profit after London IPO July 28, 2021 Tech resale site Music Magpie has posted a rise in revenue and profit in its first interim results since floating on the London Stock Exchange earlier this year. The online retailer, which allows consumers to exchange old devices such as phones and game consoles for cash, reported adjusted pre-tax profit of £4m in the six [...]
Spider-Man loses it: Five people arrested after violent incident at Asda in Clapham July 24, 2021 Five people have been arrested after a violent incident in a London supermarket. Police were called to Asda on Lavender Hill near Clapham Junction at 10.40pm on Thursday evening to reports of a group of people involved in a disturbance. Video footage posted on social media shows a woman staff member being kicked in the [...]
Poundland owner to create 13,000 jobs as it eyes online retail expansion July 23, 2021 The Pepco Group, which owns Poundland, has tabled plans to create 13,000 new jobs across Europe over the next three years. The discount group’s boss Andy Bond told Reuters that it is betting on shoppers flocking to less expensive stores amid pandemic-induced inflation. Unlike most retailers over the pandemic, the discount chain group has not [...]
Visa to buy London payments firm Currencycloud for £700m July 22, 2021 Visa has inked a deal to buy London payments group Currencycloud in the latest move by a US buyer to swoop on the booming British tech sector. The financial services giant today said the deal builds on an existing partnership between the companies and values Currencycloud at £700m inclusive of cash and retention incentives. However, [...]
Freedom Day: Where do I need to wear a face mask from today? July 19, 2021 Across England, the final remaining coronavirus restrictions have been lifted. From today, people are no longer required by law to wear masks. The government has said, however, that people will still be expected to wear face masks in certain situations while some businesses, travel operators and local politicians have said that masks will still be [...]
Ultimate Products to take over Salter and Heston Blumenthal partnership July 15, 2021 Britain’s oldest houseware brand Salter is set to be snapped up by London-listed Ultimate Products as consumers fell back in love with home cooking over lockdown. The deal is expected to be completed by 19 July and will cost Ultimate Products (UP) some £32m in cash. UP, which turned over £115.7m last year, will take [...]
Supermarkets urge shoppers to keep masks on after 19 July July 15, 2021 Supermarkets are urging customers to continue wearing masks even after 19 July, when they will no longer be a legal requirement in England. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that from Monday 19 July, dubbed ‘Freedom Day’, almost all pandemic restrictions will be lifted including the legal requirement to wear masks. Instead the public will [...]
Morrisons bosses set for bumper payday from private equity takeover July 11, 2021 Three of Morrisons’ most senior executives are set to earn millions from the supermarket’s proposed private equity takeover as scrutiny grows over the deal. Morrisons has accepted a £6.3bn takeover offer by a consortium of funds led by private equity firm Fortress — the latest in a growing frenzy of US buyouts of British firms. [...]