Asda promises turnaround after sales hit rock bottom August 19, 2015 ASDA chief executive Andy Clarke insisted that the company was seeing the first “green shoots” of a recovery despite revealing its worst ever quarterly result in the 16 years it has been owned by US chain Wal-Mart. The supermarket chain, which recently lost its position as Britain’s second-largest food retailer to Sainsbury’s, said like-for-like sales [...]
Don’t fear low inflation: It’s great news for consumers while it lasts August 18, 2015 The latest retail figures in the UK showed good growth. Things are also looking up in the US and in much of the euro area. The world economy has settled into a period of steady growth with very little inflation in the major economies. Indeed, just yesterday, official figures revealed that consumer price index inflation [...]
These are the UK’s most popular chief executive names August 18, 2015 The most common name among FTSE 100 chief executives is David, with Michael and Simon falling into joint second place. Using data scraped from Reuters, City A.M. found that 17 of the UK's 100 biggest companies are headed up by a man with one of these three names. David is way in the [...]
Morrisons nears deal to offload M Local stores August 16, 2015 Morrisons is in talks to sell its convenience stores to the investment firm behind the rescue of Monarch Airlines as the struggling supermarket chain focuses on reviving its core business. The Bradford-based retailer is said to be nearing a deal with a team of industry executives led by Greybull Capital to offload its M Local [...]
Ofcom mobile signal checker: One simple map showing UK’s mobile coverage by poscode for EE, O2, Vodafone and Three’s voice calls, 3G and 4G August 13, 2015 Where has the best and worst mobile signal? We already know that London's kitchens are officially dead zones, but when you're heading on holiday, moving house or considering switching network, it's pretty difficult to tell. Now Ofcom has put together possibly the most comprehensive map of the state of the UK's mobile network coverage, including voice calls, [...]
Tesco shares hit on Dunnhumby discount fears August 13, 2015 SHARES in Tesco slid by 2.58 per cent yesterday over fears it may have to sell its data arm Dunnhumby for less than it had hoped after bidders discovered that the business was not as profitable as they had thought. Dunnhumby was put up for sale this year for around £2bn. But some bidders are [...]
Sainsbury’s TU clothing website goes national August 13, 2015 Sainsbury’s has launched its TU clothing website across the UK for the first time today, as it seeks to challenge high street rivals and bolster its position in fashion. The supermarket chain, which has been trialling its online service since August last year, said its TU womenswear, menswear and childrenswear are now available for next [...]
Tesco share price dips on Dunnhumby and Korea deal discount troubles August 12, 2015 More troubles could be coming down the checkout line for supermarket boss Dave Lewis. Tesco is in for a "big blow" if it fails to make the £2bn it has been expecting on the sale of its Dunnhumby data arm, a deal which has had several firms scrambling to make an offer. The deal may [...]
Milk price row: This startup August 12, 2015 There's a big row going on between farmers and supermarkets over the price of milk. Farmers say they are suffering because the rival grocery stores such as Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrisons are battling each other on costs, which has caused milk prices to fall leaving them increasingly out of pocket. The supermarkets' on the other [...]
Sales of video games help boost dwindling entertainment market August 10, 2015 CONSUMERS still buying video games on the high street helped provide a welcome boost to the physical entertainment market in the last quarter and stem the rate of decline. Figures released yesterday by Kantar Worldpanel show that the physical entertainment market – sales of CDs, DVDs and games – shrank by three per cent in [...]