City Moves for 21 October 2015 | Who’s switching jobs October 20, 2015 RO REAL ESTATE The commercial property investment and development firm has appointed Nick Moore as senior investment manager. He joins from Lloyds, where he was director in its real estate division. Moore has 15 years’ experience in commercial real estate and has also held roles at PRUPIM, Warner Estates and DTZ. WILLIAM BLAIR Michael Collinson [...]
Shares fall as McColl’s looks to sell 100 newsagents October 20, 2015 McColl’s has put 100 newsagents on the block as it focuses on opening more lucrative convenience stores instead. The FTSE 250 retailer, which listed last year, has been steadily converting its newsagents into food and wine outlets at it looks to advantage of the fast-growing convenience sector and lure in higher-spending shoppers. The company said [...]
Waitrose boss Mark Price to step down amid rumours of Channel 4 job October 20, 2015 Waitrose’s managing director Mark Price is stepping down from his role at the upmarket supermarket chain amid rumours he is being lined up for the top job at Channel 4. The ebullient 55 year-old, who gave himself the nickname the “chubby grocer”, will leave in April next year after 33 years at the John Lewis [...]
Trouble for the big four supermarkets as Aldi and Lidl growth speeds up again October 20, 2015 German discounters Aldi and Lidl both saw growth rates return to over 17 per cent over the last three months, dashing hopes for the Big Four that a slowdown earlier in the year may have been part of a longer term trend. The cut-price chains have been the fastest-growing grocers in the sector for some time now. But in [...]
We’re buying more and more of our wine online as millennials learn to drink wine October 20, 2015 Don’t drink and… click? Britons are ignoring this advice, it seems. Online sales of wine are going through the roof, as the country’s millennials are growing up and learning to appreciate the taste of a nice bottle of plonk. E-commerce is driving nearly all of wine retail’s growth, according to Rabobank’s latest Wine Quarterly report. [...]
Asos share price rises as sales smash through £1bn barrier October 20, 2015 The figures Group revenue rose 18 per cent to £1.15bn in the year to 31 August 2015, from £975.5m in 2014. This was helped by retail sales, which increased 17 per cent, from £955.3m to £1.12bn during this period. Pre-tax profit rose one per cent to £47.5m despite Asos investing in proposition, warehousing and people capabilities. These costs were partially offset by insurance proceeds [...]
Traditional independent shops fall into decline for the first time in three years October 20, 2015 Traditional independent shops are disappearing from the high street at a faster rate than before after new figures show that the number or closures outstripped new openings in the first half of 2015. For the first time since 2012, independent shops have gone into decline with a loss of 144 shops in the first half of 2015, [...]
Retailers should “play Black Friday down”, warns John Lewis boss October 19, 2015 The boss of John Lewis – one of the UK's most vocal supporters of Black Friday – has urged other retailers to “play it down” in future years after the sales bonanza led to havoc on the high street. Although the business reported record sales for the week in which Black Friday (November 28) [...]
Asda backtracks on London expansion plans as it seeks to revive flagging sales October 19, 2015 Asda has become the latest supermarket to backtrack on store opening plans after scrapping ambitions to expand in London in favour of reviving deteriorating sales at existing stores. US-owned supermarket chain said it is “temporarily” slowing down the planned expansion of smaller format stores in London as well as its programme to develop more stand-alone petrol [...]
Dairy Crest share price rises as CMA approves Muller takeover October 19, 2015 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has cleared the £80m sale of Dairy Crest's dairy operations to Muller UK. The sale was referred to the CMA earlier this year over concerns there would be loss of competition to supply fresh liquid milk in the catchment area of Dairy Crest’s Severnside dairy, especially in the South West and Wales. Muller has [...]