CBI conference: Tesco boss Dave Lewis urges Tories to consult more with retail industry – taking side-swipe at policies ranging from apprenticeship levy to Living Wage November 9, 2015 "Drastic Dave" Lewis has called on the government to pay more attention to the retail industry when adopting new measures, taking a swipe at key Tory policies ranging from the apprenticeship levy to the Living Wage. Speaking at today's CBI conference, the Tesco boss suggested that government did not allow retailers enough of a say [...]
Tesco boss Dave Lewis is right to take issue with the government over burdens on the grocery sector November 9, 2015 It really wasn’t that long ago that we were talking about the near total domination of one supermarket: Tesco. Indeed, Tescopoly was published in 2007, setting out a variety of charges against the retail giant. Tesco’s dominance was, according to the book, based on “profiting from poverty” as it plundered the world’s resources. Everything was [...]
Christmas adverts 2015: It’s not just about John Lewis – here are all the other adverts including Marks & Spencer, Burberry, Waitrose, TK Maxx, Curry’s PC World, Argos – but nothing from Tesco yet November 6, 2015 Yes, yes, we know, there's a mournful man on the moon and a girl with a telescope and the whole of the UK is crying. But Christmas is not just about the John Lewis advert. There are some other retailers with festive ads of their own to share. Here's the best Christmas adverts the UK [...]
Morrisons share price falls as interims show profits plummet 35 per cent; chief executive David Potts admits turnaround will be “a long journey” November 5, 2015 Morrisons' share price fell this morning after the supermarket revealed yet another set of bad results, with underlying profits down more than a third. The figures The troubled supermarket, which yesterday sold off its convenience stores arm, said underlying pre-tax profits had tumbled 35 per cent to £117m, while turnover had dropped 5.1 per cent [...]
Black Friday 2015: Why UK shoppers are missing out the best deals from Amazon, John Lewis, Tesco and other retailers – bargains aren’t just for Christmas November 4, 2015 Last year on Black Friday, UK shoppers spent an astonishing £562,500 per minute online. It was a year which saw Boxing Day, which is traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year, toppled off its perch for the first time in seven years due to the remarkable success of Black Friday. This wasn’t, however, the [...]
Advertising giant WPP buys majority stake in digital media buyer Essence November 4, 2015 A sign of the times? Ad giant WPP announced this morning it had bought a majority stake in Essence, a London-based digital media buyer. In a statement this morning, WPP said Essence, which was founded in London in 2005 and manages media spend of more than $700m (£453m), "blends data science, objective media and captivating experiences to [...]
Christmas adverts 2015: What retailers must do to rival John Lewis when it comes to winning consumers’ hearts and minds November 3, 2015 People around the country celebrate (or lament) the fact that Christmas seems to be starting earlier with each passing year. Fairylights adorn high streets, the newest children’s toys fill up shop windows and festive sandwich flavours pop up in supermarkets, often before the Halloween decorations have even come down. Love it or hate it, there’s [...]
Amazon and Argos deals are winning UK Black Friday 2015 and Christmas online shopping race November 3, 2015 It looks like Father Christmas is planning to do most of his shopping at Amazon and Argos this year after an analysis of Google’s most popular Christmas search terms showed that the two retail giants have taken the greatest share of visits over the last three months. Linkdex has crunched data on 7,000 Christmas-related keyword [...]
UK defined benefit pension scheme deficit worse than a year ago, finds JLT Employee Benefits November 2, 2015 The deficit for all private sector defined benefit pension schemes in the UK was an estimated £228bn at the end of October, according to figures from JLT Employee Benefits released today. By comparison, the deficit at the end of October 2014 was £208bn. JLT Employee Benefits estimates that total defined benefit pension liabilities for the [...]
HMV and Game steal entertainment market share from Amazon in run-up to Black Friday 2015 UK sales November 2, 2015 HMV, Game Digital and Argos staged a comeback in the last three months after growing sales of video games, CDs and DVDs at the expense of their online rival Amazon. Figures released this morning by Kantar Worldpanel show that Amazon’s share of the physical entertainment market shrank by 1.2 percentage points (pp) in the 12 [...]