Tesco, Morrisons, Asda, and Sainsbury’s cut petrol prices as Brent crude falls again January 7, 2015 The UK’s supermarkets are cutting petrol prices as the falling price of oil fuels a pump war. Brent Crude dropped below a symbolic threshold this morning, sliding below $50 a barrel to $49.99. The supermarkets had already blinked, however. Asda capped its petrol prices at 107.7p per litre and diesel at 114.7p from 1 January, [...]
Brent crude oil falls below $50 January 7, 2015 The price of Brent crude oil has dipped below $50-a-barrel mark for the first time in five and a half years, marking a symbolic moment for oil. The black stuff fell another two per cent this morning to $49.99 a barrel. Yesterday Brent crude dipped to $51.12, following a six per cent fall on Monday, [...]
Supermarket price wars: Sainsbury’s and Asda kick off new cost-cutting battle January 6, 2015 Asda and J Sainsbury fired the latest salvo yesterday in the supermarket price war, with Tesco also expected to launch a round of price cuts tomorrow as the big four battle it out to win over shoppers’ loyalty. Walmart-owned Asda pledged to spend £300m lowering prices in the first quarter of 2015 as part of [...]
LondonMetric buys Tesco dark store as online demand expands January 6, 2015 LondonMetric has stepped up its exposure to the UK’s fast-growing online retail market by acquiring a Tesco distribution centre in south London for £21m. The property company said yesterday it has bought the Croydon warehouse from CBRE Global Investors in a deal reflecting an initial yield of 5.5 per cent. The 173,000 square feet online [...]
Peppa Pig maker Entertainment One splashes cash on US deal as finance boss Giles Willits talks expansion plans January 6, 2015 Giles Willits is sitting in the boardroom of Entertainment One’s offices in west London with a family of Peppa Pig cuddly toys gazing up at him. The British TV phenomenon – Peppa Pig, that is – is one of the production group’s most successful exports. But today pigs are forgotten and the group’s jolly finance [...]
FTSE 100 slips on weak British economic data – London Report January 6, 2015 UK SHARES fell for a third-consecutive session yesterday, and the pound traded lower against the dollar, as weaker-than-expected economic data weighed on British assets. The blue chip FTSE 100 fell 0.8 per cent, or 50.65 points, to 6,366.51, bringing its three-day loss total to three per cent. The index fell two per cent on Monday, its [...]
Petrol price of £1 a litre comes one step closer as big four supermarkets cut prices January 5, 2015 The good news for drivers just keeps on rolling. Britain's so-called "big four" supermarkets have announced a 2p cut to the price of petrol, with Tesco's reduction coming into effect immediately. The rest, which include Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury's, will cut their prices tomorrow. The reductions bring the prospect of £1 per litre petrol tantalisingly [...]
Cork blimey! Christmas champagne outsells semi-skimmed milk at Lidl January 4, 2015 Shoppers at budget supermarket chain Lidl bought more champagne than semi-skimmed milk this Christmas, the retailer has revealed. Figures show that savvy customers snapped up so many bottles of Lidl’s £11.99 Comte De Senneval champagne that it knocked the store’s usual bestseller, semi-skimmed milk, off the top spot for the festive season. The champagne has [...]
Tesco braces for era of pain as Dave Lewis restructures group January 4, 2015 Troubled retail giant Tesco is preparing to give investors a poor set of financial results this Thursday – which is likely to include losses in its core supermarket operations. New boss Dave Lewis has warned shareholders that he is willing to take short-term pain for long-term gain. He is not going to reveal any comprehensive [...]
Who’s lining up in the CEO sack race? Ladbrokes’ odds on Standard Chartered’s Peter Sands January 4, 2015 There were a lot of interesting moves at the top in 2014, with chiefs taking P45s left right and centre – Harriet Green at Thomas Cook, Simon Calder at Mothercare and Tesco’s Philip Clarke to name but a few. But who will be saying sayonara in 2015? Well, sadly we don’t have a crystal ball [...]