Your City guide to this year’s must have chocolate Easter eggs: From exploding candy to hot cross bun flavoured treats March 31, 2023 We’ve nibbled, munched and even crunched some of this year’s chocolate Easter egg offerings, and we even tried a donut-egg; you’ll have to read on to find out how that fared. Here’s our review of the best and the worst Easter eggs you can buy this year; we’ve included City-based retailers as well as supermarket [...]
Where will I buy my knickers now? How closure of M&S Fenchurch Street will be lamented by City shoppers of all ages March 30, 2023 The Marks and Spencer store on Fenchurch Street, on the corner of Gracechurch Street, is set to close on Friday 31 March. The store, which has been one of the City’s remaining department stores since the closure of the nearby House of Fraser on the corner of King William Street in 2018. Marks and Spencer [...]
Can online favourite Ocado make a comeback, or will its share price sink lower? March 28, 2023 Ocado’s share price fell nearly six per cent in afternoon trade as the “magic” of the online retailer’s venture with Marks and Spencer did little to buoy the confidence of investors In its start of year trading update Ocado revealed that retail revenue grew slightly by 3.4 per cent, although a 7.5 per cent decrease [...]
Ocado’s ‘M&S’ magic fails to impress as shares trade down despite revenue boost March 28, 2023 Ocado said it had helped by some “M&S magic” as the grocery chain’s joint venture with the high street stalwart boosted sales by 3.6 per cent in its first quarter. Shares in the online grocer were last trading down 1.97 per cent or 8.9p at 443.20p. The up market online grocer, which posted a pre-tax [...]
The Notebook: Victoria Scholar on inflation, Ocado’s woes, and why Ted Lasso is a blessed relief March 28, 2023 The Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has warned firms against rising prices to offset inflation. He told the BBC, “please understand if we get inflation embedded, interest rates will have to go up further and higher inflation really benefits nobody.” The latest UK inflation rate for February surprised economists by picking up again to [...]
Go for Broke with Pem in the County March 16, 2023 WILLIE Mullins and Dan Skelton have won seven of the last eight runnings of the County Hurdle (2:10) between them. In that time, Mullins has four wins to Skelton’s three, but I think it could be level come around 2.15pm. PEMBROKE won a couple of two-mile novice hurdles on softish ground over the winter, but [...]
Food shortage: Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Lidl and Morrisons warn salad will not be on the menu for ‘a few weeks’ March 1, 2023 Brits are being advised to avoid salads for the next “few weeks” as supermarkets have kept restrictions in place on tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and lettuce. Reports of adverse weather conditions in the Mediterranean has forced Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons and Lidl into restricting the sale of produce. This comes after social media users took to [...]
Ocado not for you: Three reasons why online grocer’s results may not be as bad as they seem February 28, 2023 Ocado’s crown as the online food retailer which keeps the middle classes stocked in organic essentials has been threatening to slip for a while now. As one of the companies which sits at the ‘higher-end’ of the online supermarket price point the rising cost of living, not to mention higher mortgage interest rates, was expected [...]
Ocado blames ‘macro economic and political headwinds’ for a drop in sales and widening losses of £500m February 28, 2023 Online grocer Ocado has reported a 3.8 per cent fall in sales, claiming its business model has been “tested” in 2022. In its results for the full year year, Ocado posted retail revenues of £2.20bn, down from £2.28bn the previous year. The firm also posted a harrowing loss before tax of £501m for 2022 up [...]
Explainer: How the Conservatives lost the farmers’ vote February 21, 2023 The Conservatives have lost Britain’s farmers. In December, support for the Tories among farmers dropped to 42 per cent. For the first time in living memory, less than 50 per cent of the farming community said they would vote Conservative if there was an election tomorrow. In December 2021, that number was 57 per cent. [...]