McColl’s appeals for rescue deal: Administration ‘increasingly likely’ unless solution can be found May 5, 2022 Convenience store giant McColl’s has said it is “increasingly likely” it will be forced to call in administrators unless an immediate rescue deal can be cinched. Responding to press speculation, the London-listed firm said that “unless an alternative solution can be agreed in the short term, it is increasingly likely that the group would be [...]
Supermarket sales slow over Easter as Brits start to cut back on grocery purchases May 4, 2022 Supermarket sales slowed last month as spending habits returned to normal after pandemic restrictions. Households are tightening their purse strings after the first tranche of higher bills hit budgets this spring while spending habits are also normalising after the easing of lockdown restrictions. Shoppers added slightly fewer items to their baskets over the last four [...]
City Moves: Who’s switching jobs in the Square Mile? May 4, 2022 City A.M.’s Millie Turner provides a roundup of the most important hires and job moves across the City, every morning. Email citymoves@cityam.com to be featured. Volterra Fietta Law firm Volterra Fietta has hired a new partner in London, who previously represented Egypt in a case related to Al Jazeera. Gunjan Sharma, who stepped into the role at the beginning of the month, [...]
Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Greggs join forces to lobby Sunak to slash business rates May 3, 2022 Supermarket giants have reiterated calls for a cut in business rates as firms endeavour to keep prices competitive for shoppers amid rising inflation. Big names including Morrisons and Co-op have come together under a new Cut the Shops Tax campaign, organised by the Retail Jobs Alliance. In a joint letter to Chancellor Rishi Sunak, bosses [...]
CMA to allow Morrisons owner to sell 87 petrol stations to complete £7bn deal May 3, 2022 The UK’s competition watchdog has said it is poised to give a green light to the owner of Morrisons over selling dozens of petrol stations. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been probing Clayton, Dubilier & Rice’s £7bn takeover of the supermarket and previously raised competition concerns. The New York private equity firm also [...]
City Moves: Who’s switching jobs in the Square Mile? April 28, 2022 City A.M.’s Millie Turner provides a roundup of the most important hires and job moves across the City, every morning. Email citymoves@cityam.com to be featured. Paysafe Specialised payments platform Paysafe has appointed crypto executive into the newly created role of senior vice president of its crypto division. Elbruz Yılmaz will be tasked with further extending the New York-listed group’s crypto offering, having spent [...]
Households face extra £271 on annual food bill as grocery inflation highest since 2011 April 26, 2022 Households are facing an additional £271 to their grocery bill, with price inflation now standing at the highest level in over a decade. According to fresh data from Kantar, grocery price inflation has reached 5.9 per cent, the highest level since December 2011. Brits are facing a slew of price increases this spring, as businesses [...]
Price war: Asda and Morrisons slash prices as supermarkets battle to woo shoppers April 25, 2022 Supermarkets are vying to win shoppers hunting for cheaper deals, as Asda and Morrisons become the latest to announce price cuts. Asda, owned by the billionaire Issa brothers, has said it will inject more than £73m into ensuring the prices of more than 100 essential items are low, until the end of the year. Meanwhile, [...]
McColl’s warns of ‘softer’ trading as newsagent continues rescue talks April 25, 2022 McColl’s has acknowledged “softer trading” as customers hold back on spending while the chain continues to try secure a financial lifeline from partners. Shares tumbled some 50 per cent in early trading on Monday morning, after the retail firm gave an update on its rescue deal talks. In a trading update on Monday, the convenience [...]
Brits race to snap up sunflower oil as shops place limits: Restaurants face shortage of cooking oil April 23, 2022 Supermarkets across the UK have placed limits on how much cooking oil customers can buy due to supply-chain problems caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Tesco is allowed three items per customer while Waitrose and Morrisons have placed limits of just two items each. The British Retail Consortium’s Tom Holder said the move was a [...]