Shopping spree: Aldi and Lidl gain market share at expense of big three supermarkets October 16, 2018 The UK's biggest supermarkets lost ground to their budget rivals in the three months into the start of October, as the return of chilly weather marked the end of a bumper summer of growth. Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda all lost market share to Aldi and Lidl, with Tesco shedding 0.6 percentage points and Sainsbury's losing 0.4 percentage points [...]
M&S, Tesco and Primark bosses to face MPs over fast fashion ‘waste’ October 5, 2018 Parliament's environmental audit committee has asked the bosses of 10 UK clothing retailers to reveal their environmental records, amid concerns about serial clothes dumping. High street staples Marks & Spencer, Primark, Next, Tesco, Asda and Sports Direct – among others – will also be summoned to parliament to face questions from the committee in November. Fast fashion is shorthand [...]
Tesco share price falls despite taking the fight to supermarket rivals with rising revenues October 3, 2018 Tesco aimed to cement its status as the UK’s largest supermarket today with rising revenue and operating margins as it fights off competition from merging rivals and cheaper competitors. However, shares fell more than seven per cent in morning trading as the retailer missed a key profit metric. The figures The retail giant posted a 13 [...]
City banker nabbed for M&A role at $320bn Qatari state fund October 2, 2018 Qatar’s largest sovereign wealth fund has grabbed a top City of London banker to run its deal-related activities worldwide, as it moves to expand a $320bn (£246.6bn) portfolio that includes the single-largest stake in supermarket Sainsbury’s, Sky News reported. Sky said Ken McLaren, currently a managing director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML), will [...]
Ocado claims the FTSE 350 crown while Indivior takes a kicking October 2, 2018 Online supermarket Ocado has claimed the top spot in the FTSE 350’s best performers so far this year just months after sealing its place as a FTSE 100 player, with shares soaring after a swathe of new licensing deals. Shares in Ocado have rocketed 126 per cent since the start of 2018, as the firm [...]
Store wars: Aldi is in no mood to be Jack’s of all trades October 2, 2018 Aldi vowed to make Tesco discounter brand Jack’s a dull boy yesterday, saying it will remain the UK’s cheapest grocer. “It will be a real struggle for any more complex supermarket to successfully imitate our model let alone replicate it,” Giles Hurley, chief exec of Aldi UK and Ireland, said as he threw down the [...]
Aldi may drop prices to compete with Tesco’s new budget venture Jack’s October 1, 2018 Low-cost supermarket chain Aldi "will never be beaten on price", and could even drop them in response to Tesco's new low-cost venture Jack's, it said today. UK and Ireland chief executive Giles Hurley said Aldi welcomes competition from new players such as Jack's, adding: "If we need to reduce retail prices we will." Read more: Drastic Dave's no-frills move must [...]
Sainsbury’s-Asda merger will impact competition in 463 local areas, competition watchdog warns September 27, 2018 The UK competition authority today warned the mega merger between Asda and Sainsbury's could Seriously lessen competition in 463 local areas across the country. To solve the issue, the new business may have to sell off hundreds of the overlapping stores. Last week, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said its concerns around the merger were [...]
Asda sparks petrol pump price war as it cuts costs by 2p per litre September 26, 2018 Supermarket chain Asda cut petrol prices by 2p per litre this morning, sparking a supermarket petrol price war as Morrisons and Sainsbury’s followed suit shortly after. Asda, which accounts for about 7.5 per cent of the fuel market, cut the price cap for its pumps to no more than 126.7p per litre for unleaded [...]
Aldi and Lidl continue to attract customers – so what impact will Tesco’s budget chain Jack’s have? September 26, 2018 Recently Tesco unveiled its first Jack’s discount store. With a strong emphasis on Britishness and home-grown products, the brand is seen as a challenger to the German supermarkets, Aldi and Lidl. I have often talked in this column about the growth of both Aldi and Lidl, and YouGov BrandIndex data points to the continued improvements [...]