Ocado Christmas sales soar and looks ahead to first ever full-year profit January 14, 2015 Online grocer Ocado reported its customer fulfilment centres processed close to 40 per cent more items in the week to Christmas for Ocado.com and Morrisons.com than over the same period the previous year. On the company's biggest day in the run-up to Christmas sales climbed 15 per cent from 2013 to almost £6m. Gross sales [...]
Sainsbury’s to slash 500 jobs January 13, 2015 SAINSBURY’S is to cut 500 head office jobs as part of a plan set out by its new chief executive to save hundreds of millions of pounds in costs. Mike Coupe pledged in November to save £500m over the next three years in order to fund a £150m price offensive against its retail rivals. The [...]
Morrisons ousts boss after poor holiday season January 13, 2015 BRITAIN’S embattled grocery sector claimed its first casualty of the year after Morrisons sacked its chief executive Dalton Philips following poor Christmas sales. Shares climbed 4.5 per cent as the City welcomed the prospect of a new boss to revive the supermarket’s fortunes. Morrisons’ incoming chairman Andy Higginson said Philips has “had a good run” [...]
Discounters Aldi and Lidl win Christmas as over half of UK visit their shops January 13, 2015 German discounters were the clear winners in the battle for Christmas sales, after more than half of all UK households shopped at their stores. While families typically treat themselves at Christmas and head to the big four, discounters have grabbed market share with clever ad campaigns and cheap offers on premium items such as champagne. [...]
The runners and riders to take over from Dalton Philips as CEO January 13, 2015 “EXPECT an ex-Tesco employee – there are plenty around,” one analyst joked yesterday when asked who would take over from Dalton Philips as Morrisons boss. After several management changes at Tesco over the last three years, there are certainly a few among the list of potential candidates. One of them is not Philip Clarke, who [...]
Dalton Philips wins 2015 CEO sack race: Will Marc Bolland be next across the line? January 13, 2015 So, Dalton Philips was the winner of the 2015 sack race in the end, beating off strong competition from rival-favourite Standard Chartered’s Peter Sands and bagging evens odds for anyone who backed him at Ladbrokes. He said an emotional goodbye to hacks on the results call yesterday morning, causing a few cringes, as both Philips [...]
Supermarket surge after top boss bows out boosts FTSE 100 – London Report January 13, 2015 MORRISONS’ surge buoyed the FTSE 100 yesterday, after the grocer announced that its chief executive had been shown the door following its poor performance during the busy Christmas trading season. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was up 0.6 per cent at 6,542.20 points at the close. But weaker commodity stocks on the back of fresh [...]
Asda overtaken by Sainsbury’s as UK’s second largest supermarket but big four continue to slide January 13, 2015 Asda has lost its title as the second largest supermarket in the UK to Sainsbury's, while discounters Aldi and Lidl continue making gains on the big four. Of the big four – Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons – sales fell by the smallest amount at Sainsbury’s, down 0.7 per cent. This helped it regain second place [...]
Morrisons: Share price jumps as chief executive Dalton Philips resigns, while Andrew Higginson steps up January 13, 2015 Shares in Morrisons bounced six per cent in early trading, after it announced chief executive Dalton Philips will step down after five years at the helm, while Andrew Higginson, an ex-Tesco executive, will take over from chairman Sir Ian Gibson later this month. Philips will stay on until the company's end of year results in [...]
More money in your pocket: Tumbling oil prices, £1 a litre petrol, supermarket price wars and mortgage provider competition January 12, 2015 Britons should be able to loosen their purse strings further this year, with tumbling oil prices, a supermarket price war and intense competition between mortgage providers forcing down the average cost of living. Supermarket chains Morrisons and Sainsbury’s – which together operate over 600 petrol stations – will both cut the price of unleaded petrol [...]