Ocado says sales hit by Jubilee June 26, 2012 Online supermarket Ocado said trade in its third quarter was disrupted by celebrations to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee as it posted a 4.5 per cent rise in underlying first half earnings. “The third quarter is particularly hard to forecast as we have already seen some disruption from the Jubilee events, and there is [...]
Ocado to name Tatton-Brown as finance chief June 24, 2012 DUNCAN TATTON-BROWN, the former finance boss of debt-laden gym chain Fitness First, is this week set to be named as the new finance director of online supermarket Ocado. Tatton-Brown was fired along with other top Fitness First executives in February as part of a radical boardroom shake-up by the troubled gym group’s private equity backers, [...]
Sainsbury and M&S chiefs see bonus slashed June 7, 2012 SAINSBURY chief executive Justin King and Marks & Spencer boss Marc Bolland have both seen their bonuses cut after failing to meet targets, as the recession forced them to slash growth plans. The cuts come amid a recent wave of shareholder upheaval against excessive executive pay which has swept across boardrooms including Aviva and Inmarsat. [...]
THE GREAT PAY DROP: HOW RETAIL BOSSES ARE FEELING THE PINCH June 7, 2012 Was £3.7m Now £3.4m Sainsbury chief Justin King takes a 9pc cut to total pay package from £3.7m to £3.4m Was £1.02m Now £663k Marks & Spencer chief Marc Bolland sees bonus cut by 50pc from £1.02m to £663,000. Was £574k Now £354m Ocado chief Tim Steiner was paid £354,000, down from £574,000 last year. [...]
Graff Diamond’s Hong Kong adventure ends in disaster May 31, 2012 IN an ideal world, ahead of the Jubilee weekend, we would now be looking forward to the listing of Graff Diamonds shares in London. Graff’s history is London through and through. Founder Laurence Graff started as a jewellery apprentice here in 1950 and then 12 years later opened his first two stores in the capital. [...]
The Facebook debacle deserves a reaction from London May 28, 2012 THE controversies surrounding the historic $104bn flotation of Facebook in the US should have reminded all of us that although the New York financial markets may currently be the place to go for technology flotations, they are not infallible. What is disappointing is that with so much wrangling about how the float was handled, very [...]
Ocado points to fresh growth as revenues surge May 23, 2012 ONLINE supermarket Ocado yesterday announced an acceleration in sales growth for the second quarter, raising hopes that the firm has overcome last year’s distribution problems that damaged consumer confidence. Shares in the company, whose range includes products supplied by upmarket grocer Waitrose, rose 6.8 per cent after it said sales in the quarter to 13 [...]
Ocado sales growth accelerates May 23, 2012 Online British supermarket Ocado posted an acceleration in sales growth in its second quarter, raising hopes it has got to grips with bottlenecks at its distribution centre that led to a string of profit downgrades last year. Shares in Ocado, whose range includes products supplied by upmarket grocer Waitrose jumped 6.8 per cent on Wednesday [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 22, 2012 Artesian Solutions Dr Steve Garnett has been appointed chairman of the brand surveillance software firm. He is currently chairman, Europe at salesforce.com. Garnett started his career at Oracle, prior to its initial public offering, where he was director of UK sales and vice president of European marketing and alliances. He has also served as vice [...]
Promethean sees sales plunge April 18, 2012 INTERACTIVE whiteboard firm Promethean World yesterday revealed a dramatic sales drop in its key North American market, causing its share price to tumble a further 20 per cent. Blaming “challenging market conditions”, the interim management statement showed revenues of £35.9m for the first quarter of 2012, a 14.4 per cent decline on the same period [...]