Retail’s Super Thursday: The good, the bad and the ugly January 10, 2019 Today's so-called Super Thursday delivered a very mixed shopping basket of retail results, from some fresh bargains ready to be snapped up to others in danger of being labelled as out of date. Tesco, John Lewis, DFS, Debenhams and more released their results on a day dubbed Super Thursday, but which coincided with a dire [...]
Tesco works on stockpiling arrangements in Brexit contingency plans January 10, 2019 Tesco is making arrangements to stockpile goods as part of the supermarket’s Brexit contingency planning, the UK's biggest supermarket confirmed today. The UK’s biggest retailer is working with suppliers to devise plans to hold stock closer to the market, and said that sensible contingency plans are in place. Read more: Tesco sees like-for-like sales boost in [...]
Tesco reports sales boost over Christmas period January 10, 2019 Tesco has beaten expectations after the supermarket reported a 2.6 per cent boost in like-for-like sales over the Christmas period. The sales success was driven by the grocer’s “festive five” vegetable offer, which sold 19.7m units over the three weeks to Christmas, promotions on lamb and beef joints and 25 per cent off six bottles [...]
Aisle be damned: The knives are out for big UK grocers January 9, 2019 Aldi and Lidl’s tills jingled all the way in December – handing them their highest-ever combined market share for the festive season, data from Kantar Worldpanel showed this week. All the major supermarkets lost market share in the 12 weeks to 30 December as Aldi’s sales jumped 10.4 per cent while Lidl’s were up 9.4 [...]
Discounters win war of the supermarkets amid sluggish Christmas growth January 8, 2019 Aldi led the way during a record-breaking Christmas for groceries, even as sales growth slowed across the sector. The supermarket increased sales by 10.4 per cent, narrowly beating fellow discounter Lidl to the top spot, figures from Kantar Worldpanel show. “The discounters have continued to make their mark over Christmas: two-thirds of all households shopped [...]
SFO scales back probe into Rolls-Royce January 7, 2019 The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has dropped its investigation into a number of individuals associated with British engineering giant Rolls-Royce. Sky News originally reported that a number of people who were suspects in the SFO's investigation have been informed that they are no longer under investigation. Rolls-Royce entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the SFO [...]
Former Barclays bosses face trial over financial crisis-era deals with Qatar January 6, 2019 Four of Barclays' most senior bankers will appear in court tomorrow on charges relating to a rescue package the bank secured from Qatar at the height of the financial crisis. Former Barclays chief executive John Varley will stand trial alongside former senior executives Roger Jenkins, Tom Kalaris and Richard Boath over funding from Qatari investors that allowed the [...]
Wall Street shares plummet after Apple warning over China slowdown January 3, 2019 Wall Street shares have plummeted in response to Apple’s warning over a slowdown in China. All three major US indices tumbled on opening as Apple’s nine per cent fall caused another painful day for investors. The tech giant said lower demand for its products in China and the country’s economic deceleration were to blame for [...]
The rise in popularity of recipe boxes is just the beginning of a revolution in food-prep convenience. Here’s what’s next December 20, 2018 Humans love to cook, ever since a caveman accidentally roasted his own forearm on a bonfire and reckoned it smelled kind of delicious. From there it was a short jump to cooking meat that wasn’t attached to our arms. Soon ancient humans were experimenting by throwing bigger and bigger animals on to the flames. Mice [...]
SFO director Lisa Osofsky wants agency to crack down on ‘corporate big boys’ December 18, 2018 The director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has said she wants the agency to be able to go after the "corporate big boys" who typically evade prosecution for economic crime and fraud. Ex-FBI lawyer turned SFO director Lisa Osofsky told the Justice Select Committee that senior individuals within large corporate organisations were not being [...]