Marks & Spencer boss Alan Stewart jumps ship for Tesco after sales drop July 10, 2014 Alan Stewart, chief financial officer at Marks & Spencer, is leaving the struggling retailer for supermarket giant Tesco, it was announced yesterday. Stewart will fill former Tesco CFO Laurie Mcllwee’s shoes at the retailer, where his pay packet is set to rise from £579,000 to £750,000 a year. Mcllwee stepped down from his role at Tesco [...]
Sainsbury’s bids adieu to its cherished King July 9, 2014 Hundreds of Sainsbury’s shareholders gathered in Queen Elizabeth Hall yesterday for the Great Justin King Love-in, otherwise billed as the supermarket’s AGM. Van Morrison was blaring, there were “Goodbye Justin” t-shirts and the hall was packed with shareholders eager to bid farewell to their King (as it was actually his last day on the job). [...]
Wal-Mart reclaims Fortune 500 crown as China snaps at its heels July 7, 2014 Chinese firms are closing in on the top spots in global business, as highlighted by yesterday’s update of the Fortune 500 index of corporate giants, which showed the world’s third and fourth biggest companies are now based in the planet’s second largest economy. Retail titan Wal-Mart regained its spot at the top, swapping places with [...]
Post Office to ring changes with EE mobile network tie-up July 7, 2014 The Post Office plans to become a mobile phone provider this autumn, using EE’s network to offer customers “a genuine alternative” to the major carriers. The government-owned company said it planned initially to sell mobile services in 50 Post Office branches, online and over the phone before rolling out across the country later in the year. [...]
Customer science: Dunnhumby CEO Simon Hay on the importance of data in online advertising July 6, 2014 Liam Ward-Proud talks to Dunnhumby chief executive Simon Hay. Before media agencies started making serious strides into consumer data and personalisation, customer insight firm Dunnhumby was busy helping Tesco (now its owner) reinvent the customer loyalty programme with Clubcard. Now, after buying German ad tech firm Sociomantic Labs this April, it’s planning on [...]
Fidelity revolts over executive short-termism July 3, 2014 FUND manager Fidelity yesterday launched an attack on executive pay after revealing it voted against aspects of pay deals at more than half of UK annual meetings this year. The influential group, which owns stakes in hundreds of UK-listed companies, said it had voted against remuneration proposals for 52 per cent of FTSE 350 firms [...]
Tesco chairman Sir Richard Broadbent flies to Burma to broker F&F clothing deal July 2, 2014 Tesco chairman Sir Richard Broadbent flew to Burma this week to broker a deal that would see it source clothing from the country for its fast-growing clothing brand F&F. Broadbent, who travelled with group commercial director Kevin Grace, is understood to be meeting suppliers and government officials as well opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. [...]
London Report: FTSE ends on a high on strong economic data July 2, 2014 Britain’s top share index hit a one-week high yesterday, with upbeat economic data from the US and China improving investor sentiment and boosting cyclical sectors such as banks and miners and carmakers. The FTSE 100 index closed 0.2 per cent firmer at 6,816.37 points, after climbing to a high of 6,829.49, the highest level since [...]
Morrisons and Tesco lose grip on market share and sales July 1, 2014 Morrisons and Tesco have both suffered another heavy fall in sales and market share in the last 12 weeks despite efforts to slash prices and win customers back into their stores. Data released yesterday from Kantar Worldpanel showed that overall grocery market grew by 2.8 per cent year-on-year in the 12 weeks to 22 June, [...]
London Report: Miners lead way as second half kicks off with a jump July 1, 2014 LONDON’S leading shares yester-day kicked off the month and the second half of the year on a positive note, as investors looked to a mixed bag of global manufacturing surveys. The FTSE 100 ended up 0.87 per cent at 6,802.92. The FTSE 100 is still 1.3 percent off its 2014 peak of 6,894.88 in May, [...]