Black Friday 2015 UK: After Asda pulled out of the big deals day, will it fade to grey? November 11, 2015 Asda’s decision to opt-out of the US-imported shopping holiday begs one question: Could this be Britain’s last Black Friday? With high-street retailers like Primark and Oasis also deciding to pull out of the Black Friday race, this is a huge sign that perhaps this one-day shopping bonanza could be abandoned by the majority of the [...]
Sainsbury’s share price falls as profits plummet 18 per cent, dividend slashed in going price war November 11, 2015 Update: Sainsbury's share price has fallen six per cent so far today, after revealing a nearly 18 per cent fall in profit, despite slashing its interim dividend by a third. The figures Sainsbury's group sales were down two per cent to £13.6bn for the 28 weeks to 26 September, while retail sales were down 0.1 per cent excluding fuel. Like-for-likes dropped [...]
Black Friday UK 2015: John Lewis prepares for biggest deals day yet as Andy Street bids to “win” Christmas for seventh year in a row November 11, 2015 John Lewis is pulling all the stops out for Black Friday 2015, which it expects to be bigger than last year, as the department store aims to "win" Christmas again. Last year, Black Friday pulled in the biggest sales in John Lewis' 150-year history. But managing director Andy Street said this year's Black Friday – which [...]
Black Friday 2015 UK: Police asks retailers to extend bargains day to a week in a bid to stave off the chaos of last year at stores like Tesco and Asda November 11, 2015 Perhaps Asda was right to step back from Black Friday. Police have called on retailers to put into place a better strategy for dealing with the huge numbers of shoppers expected to storm high streets and supermarkets on 27 November. The National Police Chiefs' Council has urged retailers to deploy more staff and security to help [...]
Is the John Lewis Christmas advert never knowingly over commercial? November 11, 2015 Christmas comes but once a year – as does John Lewis’ much-heralded festive TV ad campaign. And, regular as clockwork, its Man on the Moon ad was released on Friday as part of the retailer’s £7m campaign. As usual, it’s a heart-warming story played out over a now customary cover of a classic song, Oasis’ [...]
Pandora sales sparkle as Danish jeweller charms UK shoppers November 10, 2015 Danish jewellery brand Pandora has posted a 50.5 per cent jump in UK sales in the third quarter, after its rings, necklaces and charm bracelets flew off the shelves. The listed company, which has opened 179 stores in the UK over the last seven years, said like-for-like sales increased by 17.5 per cent compared to [...]
Black Friday UK 2015: Asda might be right to scale back its bargains on 27 November – but shoppers will still expect the deals November 10, 2015 Last year Black Friday broke the internet. Well, not quite; but it did break the websites of many UK retailers which struggled to cope with demand. In stores the occasion created Walking Dead type scenes, with hoards of shoppers frantically clawing for the best bargains. Given that these are sure signs that the event – [...]
Christmas 2015: Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda predicted to clean up this festive season – but Aldi, M&S and Lidl will beat Morrisons November 10, 2015 Black Friday might be set to be less of a big deal this year but Christmas is going nowhere. In fact, the UK is expected to spend £16.5bn on food, drink and presents during the festive season – up 2.5 per cent from last year. That's an average of £442 per person, according to data from [...]
Black Friday UK 2015 deals: Asda confirms it is “calling time” on the bargain bonanza day November 10, 2015 Looking for Black Friday deals? Don't bother checking out Asda this year. Black Friday might be rather more grey at the supermarket for 2015, with the Walmart-owned supermarket confirming it is scaling back its plans around the bargain bonanza day. The supermarket said it was "calling time" on the day, and instead of stomaching the [...]
Governor Mark Carney: The out-of-touch boyfriend – CNBC Comment November 10, 2015 The only thing worse than an “unreliable boyfriend” is one who relentlessly aims to please but fails to understand what his partner really needs. Despite his best intentions, he disrupts the relationship through an improper assessment of the situation at hand. Meet the “out-of-touch boyfriend”. The latter label arguably became a more apt characterisation [...]