Retail bosses call for business rates reform in 2020 budget February 13, 2020 Major UK retailers, including Debenhams, Sainsbury’s and M&S, have this morning called on the chancellor to take action on business rates reform in the upcoming budget. Retail bosses representing some of the country’s biggest high street chains have written to Sajid Javid urging him to outline plans to reform the transitional relief system in the budget [...]
Sainsbury’s Bank chairman Roger Davis steps down February 12, 2020 Sainsbury’s Bank has started a search for a new chair after Roger Davis told the board he intends to step down from the role. Davis has chaired the bank’s board for almost seven years. Sainsbury’s said the search to find Davis’s replacement had begun and that further announcements regarding the timings of his retirement and [...]
Ocado retains crown as Britain’s fastest-growing supermarket February 4, 2020 Ocado has retained its position as Britain’s fastest growing supermarket, with the online grocer achieving its quickest growth in the North of England. Ocado’s overall sales grew 11.2 per cent year-on-year during the quarter, with its market share rising 0.2 percentage points, according to data from Kantar. While over half of the grocer’s sales come [...]
Advent International teams up with rival private equity firms to plot takeover of Pepco February 3, 2020 Private equity firm Advent International is reported to be working with Hellman & Friedman and Mid Europa Partners on a bid for Pepco Group. A takeover could value Pepco at more than €4.5bn (£3.8bn), Sky News reported. Steinhoff International is looking to sell Pepco, which includes retailer Poundland. Advent offloaded Poundland to Warburg Pincus for [...]
Tesco ditches plastic wrap on multipack tins January 24, 2020 Tesco is set to remove all plastic wrapping from its multipack tins in a bid to cut down on waste, a step it says will remove 350 tonnes of plastic per year from the environment. The supermarket giant has teamed up with brands including Heinz and Green giant to replace single-use plastic wrap on multipacks [...]
Failed Asda merger ‘trigger’ for Sainsbury’s CEO Mike Coupe’s exit January 22, 2020 The departure of Sainsbury’s boss Mike Coupe’s was sparked by the failure to merge the supermarket with rival Asda, analysts said today. Industry experts said it was impossible to look beyond the failure of the Asda merger, and felt his resignation – announced today – was simply a matter of time. Coupe was caught on [...]
Sainsbury’s CEO Mike Coupe to retire after six years January 22, 2020 Mike Coupe is set to retire as chief executive of Sainsbury’s after six years at the helm, the company revealed today. The CEO will leave the role in May before retail and operations director Simon Roberts takes charge in June. Mike Coupe said leaving had been a “very difficult decision for me personally”. Read more: [...]
Sainsbury’s to cut hundreds of management jobs January 21, 2020 Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s said today it would cut hundreds of management roles. It said the move was part of its plan to further integrate Sainsbury’s with catalogue retailer Argos which it bought in 2016 in a £1.4bn deal. Sainsbury’s said it had reduced its senior leadership team by 20 per cent since the start of [...]
Aldi announces pay rise and recruitment drive January 21, 2020 Aldi has announced it will increase the hourly rate paid to in-store staff members and hire more than 3,800 employees this year as it pushes ahead with its UK expansion plans. The budget supermarket said all employees will earn a minimum hourly rate of £9.40, a 30p per hour increase from the previous minimum wage [...]
Christmas supermarket sales growth slows to four-year low January 7, 2020 Supermarket sales growth over the Christmas period slowed to the lowest rate in four years as shoppers watched their budgets over the festive period. Retailers reported sales of £29.3bn, up £50m on last year, however growth slumped to the lowest rate since 2015. Read more: Morrisons sales fall in ‘unusually challenging Christmas period’ Year-on-year supermarket [...]