Oil prices: UK supermarkets Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s in petrol price war as they match crude oil price decline September 24, 2015 The UK’s supermarkets kicked off yet another price war yesterday, with Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s all slashing petrol prices by up to 2p per litre (ppl). Morrisons, which has 336 petrol stations in the UK, announced that it was making its third petrol price cut in four weeks. “The falling wholesale price of [...]
National living wage to hit convenience stores including Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s September 24, 2015 Convenience retailers warned today that they may have to reduce staff hours or cut jobs entirely to fund George Osborne’s national living wage of £9 for over-25s by 2020. Britain’s convenience sector employs around 407,000 staff and consists of around 50,000 stores – of which fewer than 2,500 are run by Tesco, Morrisons and [...]
Card Factory delivers a record profit but warns on wage rise September 23, 2015 Discount greetings card chain Card Factory reported a bumper first-half yesterday but became the latest retailer to warn that the government’s minimum wage rise could weigh on margins next year. The Wakefield-based company, which made its market debut in May last year, said pre-tax profits soared 72.3 per cent to reach £25.7m in the six [...]
Sainsbury’s beats Tesco, Asda and Morrisons as only top supermarket in growth while Kantar warns of impact Amazon Fresh will have on sector September 22, 2015 Yet more bad data for the Big Four was released today – plus a hint that there could be a fresh problem facing the UK's supermarket sector, in the form of Amazon Fresh. Sainsbury was the only supermarket among the Big Four to keep pace with the sector's growth over the last quarter, with Asda's [...]
Morrisons hires former supplier Express Dairies and Arla Foods boss Neil Davidson as non-executive director September 22, 2015 Morrisons' chair of the corporate compliance and responsibility committee Penny Hughes is stepping down after six years, to be replaced by former supplier Neil Davidson. Hughes will leave the board at the end of the calendar year "as a natural part of planned board succession", the supermarket said this morning. Davidson will join the board [...]
Finsbury Food profits soar after gobbling up rival bakery chains September 22, 2015 BREAD and cake-maker Finsbury Food has posted a surge in full-year profits, boosted by its acquisition of rival baker Fletchers and Just Desserts. The company, which supplies celebration cakes and other baked goods to retailers including Morrisons and M&S, posted a 6.1 per cent rise in like-for-like sales in the year to 27 June. Group [...]
Lidl promises to pay above the National Living Wage to all its UK staff September 18, 2015 Lidl has already beaten the big four supermarkets on price. Now, the German discounter also plans to trump them on employee benefits, after revealing that it will pay its staff above the living wage from October. The fast-growing chain announced yesterday that it will adopt the new higher rate it expects the Living Wage [...]
Cheesegrater wins City of London building of year award September 16, 2015 The Leadenhall Building, also known as “the Cheesegrater” has won the first ever City of London building of the year award. The commercial skyscraper, which was designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners, was chosen as the winner by a jury at the Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects (WCCA). Read more: Walkie Talkie awarded [...]
FTSE retreats as Morrisons and Glencore drop – London Report September 15, 2015 BRITAIN’S top share index fell yesterday, with miner Glencore and supermarket group Morrisons underperforming as weak Chinese data and the possibility of a US rate rise weighed on markets. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index had initially risen but then lost ground to close 0.5 per cent lower at 6,084.59 points as caution crept in before [...]
Faceless fears: no one hears you scream online – it is far too distant and anonymous September 15, 2015 Opening shots René Carayol THERE IS rarely a business bulletin nowadays that doesn’t mention a significant successful fraud. This is of course not the full picture, as most businesses and many consumers do not feel compelled to report their perceived lax controls. It’s now nearly always a sophisticated cyber-attack or the now more prosaic online [...]