Mark Kleinman: Unilever puts buyout firms in the deep freeze December 12, 2024 Mark Kleinman is Sky News’ City Editor and is the man who gets the Square Mile talking in his weekly City AM column. This week, he tackles Unilever’s flakey ice cream approach, Thames Water’s demanding investors, and the long-winded sale of The Observer. Anyone for an ice cream fight? The decision of FTSE-100 consumer goods behemoth Unilever to [...]
Hunton Andrews Kurth raids EY for team of nearly two dozen lawyers December 10, 2024 Nearly a dozen lawyers have joined the City office of US law firm Hunton Andrews Kurth from Ernst & Young legal services arm, EY Law
Asda needs to ‘dig down into its soul’ and recover sense of purpose, say analysts December 9, 2024 Asda needs to “dig down into its soul” and reshape its pitch to customers if it wants to tackle the rising threat from the likes of Aldi and Lidl following a rollercoaster 2024, analysts have warned. The Leeds-headquartered supermarket giant has not been far from the headlines all year amid debt struggles, strikes, falling sales [...]
Morrisons expands use of Ocado’s grocery-picking software in store November 28, 2024 Ocado has announced it will work more with Morrisons in-store and less via fulfilment centres as the latter company recalibrates the operations of its online grocery arm. Morrisons, which has been working with Ocado since 2013, will “gradually cease” deliveries from Ocado’s Erith fulfilment centre, in the south east Ocado said in a statement this [...]
Morrisons chief calls for urgent overhaul of business rates system November 24, 2024 The chief of Morrisons has called for the business rates system to be radically overhauled so it “genuinely levels the playing field” between high street retailers and online operators. Rami Baitiéh, the boss of the supermarket, told The Mail on Sunday: “The current proposal threatens to drag hundreds of supermarkets, which are crucial to thriving [...]
Morrisons puts 400 jobs at risk after failing to turn around loss-making bakery November 20, 2024 Supermarket giant Morrisons has confirmed plans to close a loss-making bakery in a move which has put almost 400 jobs at risk. The Bradford-headquartered grocer is looking to shut down Rathbones after failing to return the business to profit. The bakery was acquired by Morrisons out of administration in 2005 but has been loss making [...]
Struggles continue at Asda as new owner looks to turn around supermarket giant November 12, 2024 The continuing struggles at supermarket giant Asda have been revealed with both Tesco and Sainsbury’s hoovering up its market share in the UK, according to new figures. Sales at the Leeds-based grocer totalled £4.242bn in the 12 weeks to 3 November, 2024, down from the £4.490bn it reported for the same period last year, the [...]
Labour’s ‘growth’ agenda already looks like a bad joke November 7, 2024 Well, that didn’t take long to unravel: the first Labour Budget for nearly 15 years, and the first ever by a female chancellor, saw the parallels with Kwasi Kwarteng’s infamous 2022 mini-Budget emerging within hours. The comparison was misguided, although the jittery reaction of financial investors and rise in government funding costs told its own [...]
Hospitality bosses warn government tax hikes will hit investment November 5, 2024 According to reports, business leaders have warned the government that the tax rises announced in Labour’s Autumn budget will lead to a huge increase in costs and a fall in investment. The bosses of large retail and hospitality firms like Fuller’s, Greene King and Morrisons have warned business secretary Jonathan Reynolds that last week’s budget [...]
Asda flies in Morrisons and M&S execs as turnaround plan gathers pace October 22, 2024 Asda has added two new members to its leadership team as it looks to bolster the firm amid a significant turnaround plan. Laura Lepley will join in December from Morrisons as vice president of central operations, while Mark Henry will join in January from M&S as vice president of retail in the south of England. [...]