Morrisons’ group trading director Casper Meijer joins mass exodus April 13, 2015 Morrisons’ trading director Casper Meijer has become the latest high profile executive to leave the troubled retailer as part of an ongoing shake-up under new chief executive David Potts. The former Tesco director has sacked over half of Morrisons senior management team since taking over in March as he tries to turn around the troubled [...]
Easter “masks” wider problems in supermarket sector as price war continues to take toll on Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury and Morrisons April 10, 2015 Supermarkets experienced their first growth in spend during March – but the early Easter is “masking” the sector's problems, Nielsen claims. Sales rose 0.7 per cent for the four weeks to March 28 against the same period last year. The last time grocers saw an increase in spend was April last year, when Easter distorted [...]
Aldi becomes sixth biggest food retailer but sales growth slows April 8, 2015 ALDI has overtaken Waitrose as the UK’s sixth biggest supermarket, according to figures out yesterday that also cautioned that growth among the discounters was slowing. Aldi’s sales grew by 16.8 per cent in the 12 weeks to 30 March compared with a year earlier, taking its market share to 5.3 per cent, data from Kantar [...]
Shop vacancy at 5-year low April 8, 2015 SHOP vacancy rates across Britain’s high streets fell to their lowest level in March since 2010, figures released yesterday show. The Local Data Company’s (LDC) latest report shows retail vacancy rates fell to 13 per cent in March from 13.1 per cent in February while properties for leisure activities stayed the same at 8.3 per [...]
Aldi knocks Waitrose off its spot as UK’s sixth biggest supermarket April 8, 2015 Aldi has overtaken Waitrose to become the UK's sixth biggest supermarket. The budget supermarket, which has recorded double-digit sales growth for the past four years, now has 5.3 per cent of the country's spend on groceries, according to Kantar Worldpanel. Waitrose is still in growth – in fact just one of three to see [...]
Why hiring chief executives externally is better for struggling businesses April 2, 2015 It's an age-old argument: when a leader steps down, do you promote from within or bring in fresh blood? Each brings their own benefits – one has a fresh view on business and new ways of working, while the other already has a deep understanding of a company's strengths and weaknesses. Now we might have [...]
Morrisons hurt by downgrade March 30, 2015 SHARES in Morrisons dropped one per cent yesterday after analysts at Goldman Sachs downgraded the supermarket chain and forecast lower margins. The bank said that despite the retailer being “the most proactive” of the UK grocers in cutting prices and improving service to boost footfall, like-for-likes remained negative, leading them to forecast lower margins in [...]
Supergroup share price surges as Idris Elba takes centre stage March 26, 2015 SUPERGROUP, the maker of Superdry clothing, is roping in potential future Bond Idris Elba to help grow its business. The star of The Wire will collaborate on designing a premium fashion range for Superdry, the retailer revealed among a host of plans, which sent shares surging 6.2 per cent yesterday. In addition to the range [...]
Supergroup’s share price surges as new strategy includes an Idris Elba designed fashion range and 2016 dividend March 26, 2015 British fashion retailer Supergroup, the maker of Superdry clothing, is roping in potential future Bond Idris Elba to help grow its business. The star of Luther and The Wire will collaborate on designing a premium fashion range for Supergroup, the retailer has revealed, among a host of plans which sent shares surging six per cent [...]
Mentoring critical to having more FTSE female board members, say women on boards March 24, 2015 As a government report points to a more than doubling of women on FTSE boards, three women give the lowdown on life in the boardroom, and how more women can get there. Anne Richards Anne Richards had “wandered through life not really worrying about the gender mix of a board”. However, the chief investment officer [...]