From Russia with kefir: How Biotiful Dairy sold a new drink to the British public March 2, 2020 How do you convince the British public to try a whole new food category, especially when it doesn’t sound very appealing at first glance? That was the challenge facing the Russian-born entrepreneur Natasha Bowes when she decided to try to start selling kefir in the UK. Kefir is a type of fermented milk drink made [...]
Goldman-backed Neyber set to be rescued by rival Salary Finance March 1, 2020 The Goldman-Sachs backed lender Neyber will reportedly sell its assets to rival Salary Finance. Neyber is expected to appoint administrators this week, according to Sky News reports. The consumer finance provider will offload its assets including its blue-chip customer contracts to Salary Finance. Sky News sources said the deal was almost certain to happen in [...]
Asda: Private equity firms race to buy majority stake March 1, 2020 Private equity firms are vying to buy a majority stake in Asda after its US owner Walmart decided to offload the supermarket following the competition watchdog’s decision to block its merger with Sainsbury’s. US buyout firm Lone Star has reportedly made an offer for a stake in the grocer, with private equity firms Apollo and [...]
Debenhams to give councils ultimatum on business rates February 26, 2020 Debenhams is set to give councils an ultimatum in a bid to secure business rate cuts as it works out which of its stores are next for the chop. The beleaguered department store chain will tell councils that a failure to cut its rates bills could cause them to shut the Debenhams in the area, [...]
Walmart in talks to sell controlling stake in Asda February 26, 2020 Asda’s owner, the US retail titan Walmart, is in early-stage talks about selling a controlling stake in the UK supermarket, the two firms revealed today. Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, said the discussions had begun after “inbound interest” from a small number of firms. The announcement came just under a year after Asda’s planned £7.3bn [...]
Waitrose ranked best UK supermarket in annual Which survey February 22, 2020 Waitrose has been ranked as the best supermarket in the UK in an annual satisfaction survey conducted by Which. The chain, which is owned by John Lewis, hit five stars on most categories, but did come joint-last in value for money. Budget supermarkets Aldi and Lidl continue to be ranked highest in terms of value. [...]
Lidl to invest £1.3bn in UK store expansion February 20, 2020 Budget supermarket Lidl has announced it will invest £1.3bn in store expansion across the UK in the next two years. The German discounter – which has opened 50 new stores in the last 12 months – said this morning that it has committed to investing in growing its store portfolio in 2021 and 2020. The [...]
Goldman Sachs-backed startup Neyber in talks with administrators February 20, 2020 A London-based startup that has been backed by Goldman Sachs is reportedly in talks with administrators in a bid to secure its long-term future. Neyber, a consumer finance provider that enables employees to borrow against their salaries, is in discussions with accounting firm BDO about a range of strategic options, Sky News reported. Possible outcomes [...]
Asda sales slump due to ‘cautious’ Christmas shoppers February 18, 2020 Asda sales slumped over the crucial festive trading period due to “cautious” consumer spending, as shoppers reined in their Christmas lists. The supermarket giant said like-for-like sales excluding petrol dropped 1.3 per cent in the three months to the end of December. The sales drop was driven by “challenging market conditions”, particularly in Asda’s clothing [...]
Tesco ‘unlawfully’ blocked rivals from opening nearby stores, CMA finds February 14, 2020 Tesco has been told to stop illegally blocking rival supermarkets from buying its land or leasing nearby sites by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). An investigation from the competition regulator found that Tesco had blocked access to rivals using restrictive contracts on 23 occasions. The UK’s biggest supermarket chain has agreed to take action [...]