At the close: Mining companies Glencore, Anglo American and BHP Billiton take FTSE 100 higher November 4, 2015 The FTSE 100 ended Wednesday's session slightly higher, led by gains in mining companies. The UK's top blue chip index ended the day 0.46 per cent up at 6,412 points. The day's biggest riser was Glencore, the embattled mining giant, which has been struggling to reassure investors worried about the size of its debt pile. It today announced a [...]
Morrisons supermarket takes a bite out of £3bn sandwich market November 2, 2015 Morrisons is going head-to-head high street chains such as Pret a Manger and EAT by launching its own range freshly made sandwiches, as the embattled chain looks to revive sales at its stores. Britain’s food-to-go market is expanding rapidly along with changing consumer habits and is now worth around £6bn, with the sandwich market worth around [...]
Morrisons staff to sue after disgruntled colleague Andrew Skelton posted bank, salary and National Insurance details online October 27, 2015 Morrisons staff are planning to sue the supermarket after a data leak led to personal details of almost 100,000 employees being posted online by "a former colleague with a grudge". Bank, salary and National Insurance details were posted by Andrew Skelton, a senior internal auditor at Morrisons' Bradford head office, on data sharing websites after being disciplined [...]
Best of the Brokers for 27 October 2015 October 27, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com WM MORRISON SUPERMARKETS Shore Capital head of research and supermarket expert Clive Black has welcomed WM Morrison Supermarket’s announcement that it is partnering with UK Motor Fuel Group for forecourt convenience stores at five petrol stations. Black said the move demonstrated “better thinking” than Morrisons’ previous [...]
My Local: Mike Greene’s new convenience chain has a tough task ahead of it after Morrisons’ management October 26, 2015 Today’s grocery market is an unforgiving place for established supermarkets, let alone new retailers on the block. Many supermarkets are struggling against the seemingly inexorable changes sweeping the grocery industry. They face falling prices and shifting shopping habits, with shoppers moving simultaneously online and to the discount retailers. It is against this backdrop that Mike [...]
German discounter Aldi pledges to pay all UK staff above National Living Wage October 26, 2015 Aldi has set out to trump its supermarket rivals on pay by announcing today that it will pay all UK staff "significantly" above the living wage. The discount food retailer said all UK employees will be paid at least £8.40 an hour, and £9.45 in London from February 2016. This is ahead of the government’s national living wage of £7.20 an [...]
Customer service: How brands like Ryanair have taken it from ugly sister to Cinderella October 23, 2015 During our annual convention on customer service in Glasgow next month, one of the key speakers will be Carol Anne O’Neill of Ryanair. This might strike you as ironic given the budget airline’s historically poor reputation for pared down, no frills customer service. But it’s a clear sign of how the times are a changin’ [...]
The nightmare before Christmas: Aldi and Lidl hammer Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco October 21, 2015 Britain's biggest supermarkets are facing a crunch Christmas as the pressure from German discounters Aldi and Lidl is ramped up, with experts warning of a bloody battle for this year’s festive season. The German duo have both seen growth rates return to over 17 per cent in the past three months, according to data from [...]
The nightmare before Christmas October 20, 2015 Aldi and Lidl hammer British supermarkets BRITAIN’S biggest supermarkets are facing a crunch Christmas as the pressure from German discounters Aldi and Lidl is ramped up, with experts warning of a bloody battle for this year’s festive season. The German duo have both seen growth rates return to over 17 per cent in the past [...]
Trouble for the big four supermarkets as Aldi and Lidl growth speeds up again October 20, 2015 German discounters Aldi and Lidl both saw growth rates return to over 17 per cent over the last three months, dashing hopes for the Big Four that a slowdown earlier in the year may have been part of a longer term trend. The cut-price chains have been the fastest-growing grocers in the sector for some time now. But in [...]