Will Marks & Spencer’s new boss Steve Rowe “kitchen sink” the retailer? April 4, 2016 Marks & Spencer's new boss Steve Rowe picked up the reins from Marc Bolland on Friday – just days before the troubled retailer is due to reveal its fourth quarter figures. If M&S' most recent set of results is anything to go by, investors can probably expect another set of declines – particularly within general [...]
Cost of weekly supermarket shop drops for fourth month in a row to hit lowest level in over a year April 4, 2016 The cost of the average weekly grocery shop has fallen for the fourth month in a row to reach its lowest level in over a year, data released today shows. Research by price comparison site MySupermarket found that a basket of 35 staple products across the major grocers cost £84.36 in March, down 3.8 per [...]
Area guide: Woolwich – why it’s tomorrow’s town April 1, 2016 It’s an unfortunate consequence of over-enthusiastic estate agents that an area described as “up-and-coming” is often, well, getting there but taking its sweet time about it. Woolwich was one such place for a long time, but 2016 is the year SE18 arrives on the property scene. “Woolwich has been touted as up-and-coming for the last [...]
Tesco prepares to sell off restaurant chain Giraffe March 31, 2016 Tesco is preparing for another disposal and sounding out potential buyers for restaurant business Giraffe. The supermarket bought the chain in 2013 for £49m, with plans to open Giraffe branches beside its stores. At the time, Tesco said the deal was an "opportunity to develop some of the space in our larger stores to create retail destinations [...]
Vodafone gets its wires crossed with customers as it becomes the most complained about March 30, 2016 Vodafone has become the UK's most complained about mobile phone provider following a surge of complaints in the final months of 2015. The UK telecoms watchdog Ofcom has said it recorded 32 complaints for every 100,000 of Vodafone's pay-monthly subscribers in the last quarter of 2015. This was a major surge, more than double the amount of [...]
Fruit juices, drinks and smoothies might not be one of your “five a day” according to new sugar study March 24, 2016 Just a few weeks after it was revealed how much sugar was lurking in your Starbucks coffee drinks and a fortnight since George Osborne announced a sugar tax on soft drinks, it seems fruit juice could be another villain too. The authors of a new study have even gone so far as to suggest that [...]
Bottoms up to Great Brewtain: Old Speckled Hen, Doom Bar and Hobgoblin are the nation’s three top ales, according to Tesco March 23, 2016 If you don't still know the difference between ale and beer, now might be the time to learn – ale sales have shot up over 14 per cent in the past year. And, if you still need help discerning them next time you're at the pub, Old Speckled Hen, Doom Bar and Hobgoblin are the UK's [...]
At the close: FTSE 100 rises despite tourism stocks dropping in wake of Brussels attacks March 22, 2016 Tourism stocks took a hit today in the wake of attacks in Brussels, holding the FTSE 100 index back from closing higher. The index closed 0.13 per cent higher at 6,192 points. "European equities dropped on Tuesday after a coordinated set of terrorist attacks at the airport and metro stations in Brussels sent investors out [...]
Supermarkets reap over £1bn of property investment in 2015 as new buyers pile in March 22, 2016 Britain's supermarket sector attracted over £1bn of property investment last year as investors shrugged off the price wars and and went in search of stable returns. Research released today by Colliers International and data analytics provider MSCI revealed that deal volumes reached £1.4bn in 2015, up slightly on the previous year but down on the record [...]
After the government’s volte-face on the sugar tax, will marketeers be left with a crashing low? March 22, 2016 Should the announcement of a sugar tax in last week’s Budget have marketeers worried? It certainly represents a volte-face on the part of the government. In October, when the advisory group Public Health England (PHE) released a report recommending measures to tackle childhood obesity, including a sugar tax of 10 to 20 per cent, a [...]