Ex-Tesco chief Sir Terry Leahy backing staff discounts app Work Angel January 18, 2015 Former Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy is reportedly leading a £3.3m funding round for smartphone startup Work Angel. Work Angel helps firms retain and reward staff with discounts and deals via a smartphone app. It was founded by serial entrepreneur Jamie True, who made an estimated £15m from the sale of his mobile app [...]
Defined benefit pensions axed from big firms January 18, 2015 Fewer of the UK’s largest firms are offering substantial defined benefit (DB) pension schemes. The number of FTSE 100 companies offering sizeable DB schemes dropped from 65 to 56 in the 12 months to September, according to figures released yesterday by consultants JLT Employee Benefits. A DB scheme is defined as sizeable if the costs [...]
LiteBulb Group’s Simon McGivern and James Phillips talk Mary Berry, cashpoint encounters and woodwork January 18, 2015 It's not every day that you bump into an old friend at a cash machine in Fulham and end up hatching a business – but then Simon McGivern and James Phillips, the founders of LiteBulb Group, are not your average pair. They went to school together (although they didn’t know each other very well) and [...]
Tesco boss Dave Lewis given dressing down over “toxic culture” as he pulls controversial plans for Ealing Green store January 16, 2015 Tesco has pulled its plans for a controversial new store on Ealing Green – despite it not being on the list of those dropped under Dave Lewis' new strategy. But that still hasn't stopped the new chief executive coming in for a dressing down by an angry campaigner over Tesco's “toxic culture”, claiming [...]
In a supermarket version of The Apprentice, Alan Sugar would have a whale of a time January 16, 2015 Imagine an Apprentice supermarket special – Alan Sugar, flanked by his experts, reviewing the practices of the big supermarkets each week. “[Morrisons' soon-to-depart chief exec] Dalton Phillips, you took far too long to introduce smaller convenience stores, ecommerce and a delivery service. The other supermarkets have had these things for years. Honestly, man. What [...]
Tesco tells a third of senior directors they face redundancy or demotion as Dave Lewis’ restructure begins to bite January 16, 2015 Tesco has started warning senior directors that they face redundancy or demotion, as part of a restructure designed to get the supermarket back on track. Around a third of these key decision-makers have been told by Tesco top brass that they face redundancy or “changed responsibilities at a lower work level”, according to [...]
Tesco poaches Waitrose ad agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty to aid turnaround January 15, 2015 Advertising agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) has quit working with Waitrose and moved across to help Tesco rebuild consumer trust in its brand. The supermarket’s chief executive Dave Lewis also confirmed the appointment of consultancy firm Blue Rubicon. “We are assembling a small team of world class advisers to work on the turnaround of our [...]
Why Marks & Spencer’s investors haven’t all revolted on Marc Bolland (yet) in two charts January 15, 2015 Marks & Spencer's chief executive Marc Bolland has come in for a pounding yet again, after the retailer revealed another set of dismal results last week. Like-for-likes in general merchandise, which includes clothing, fell 5.8 per cent for the 13 weeks to December 27, the 14th consecutive quarter M&S has recorded declines in this division. [...]
Tesco share price up as Bill Ackman reveals interest January 14, 2015 Troubled supermarket Tesco bucked the general FTSE downward trend yesterday, with its shares up by 0.94 per cent at the close. The group may have benefited from Bill Ackman’s interest in its shares. The Pershing Square founder and chief executive told Bloomberg TV yesterday that he had looked at investing in Tesco, although ultimately decided [...]
Ocado outperforms its rivals during Christmas and sees sales rise 15pc January 14, 2015 ONLINE grocer Ocado yesterday announced that it had outperformed its traditional supermarket rivals over Christmas, adding it was confident about prospects in 2015 despite an escalating price war. The firm, whose range includes products supplied by upmarket grocer Waitrose, said sales growth in December continued at the rate it achieved in the final quarter of [...]