RBS bidders at war over bank branches sale August 20, 2013 THE WAR of words between investors vying to buy 316 RBS branches intensified yesterday as the groups tried to discredit their opponents. W&G Investments’ Andrew Higginson claimed his is the only viable bid, while John Maltby, from the consortium including Corsair, argues he is in a better position to move ahead. Former Tesco Bank boss [...]
City investors finalise plans for RBS branch bid August 19, 2013 ONE OF the bidders vying for a shot at winning a portfolio of RBS branches is expected to submit a formal offer for the network this morning, after listing on the London stock market to fund the deal. W&G Investments, headed up by former Tesco finance chief Andy Higginson and backed by institutions including Schroders [...]
Strawberry fine for Tesco August 19, 2013 TESCO was fined £300,000 yesterday for misleading customers over a “half price” promotion for strawberries in the summer of 2011. The case, brought by Birmingham City Council, relates to the price of a 400g punnet of strawberries at stores in 2011. They were marked at half price longer than the original price – breaching the [...]
Tesco fined in strawberry mis-selling scandal August 19, 2013 Tesco has been fined £300,000 by Birmingham Crown Court after admitting it mis-sold strawberries to the British public in a half-price deal. The supermarket admitted four counts of engaging in an unfair commercial practise over strawberry prices in 2011. The case concerns the Tesco store on Coventry Road, Sheldon, and was widened to Tesco stores [...]
WPP subsidiary acquires majority stake in online rival August 19, 2013 Corporate communications agency Addison, a wholly-owned subsidiary of British advertising giant WPP, announced this morning it has acquired a majority stake in Emaxol, the holding company of online rival IR Group (release). IR Group (“The Group”) employs 65 people and specialises in designing, building, hosting and developing corporate websites and digital consulting services. Clients include [...]
Profits plummet one third for top UK businesses August 18, 2013 DESPITE a rise in revenues, some of the UK’s top companies saw profits plunge in the year to March, slumping by a total of 33.8 per cent in comparison to 2012. In the 12 months up to the end of the first quarter, 62 of the country’s biggest firms earned £16.6bn in profit after tax, [...]
Innovation Diary: Why the rise of the intrapreneur may be picking up momentum August 18, 2013 MANY startups are sceptical of claims that big corporates understand small business. It certainly suits an image, but the reality is often different. A recent inquiry found, for example, that small and medium-sized businesses were owed a record £35.3bn in late payments at the end of 2012, with big firms the main culprits. Many startups [...]
Asda still set to expand even as revenues slow August 15, 2013 ASDA, Britain’s second largest supermarket, said yesterday that it would continue to carry out an “aggressive” growth strategy building more stores, as it reported a slowdown in second quarter like-for-like sales. Grocers like Tesco have called an end to an era of rapid growth known as the “space race”, turning their attention instead to online, [...]
John Lewis is set to create a new restaurant August 14, 2013 JOHN Lewis is poised to launch a new restaurant concept in a move to diversify its catering range and attract more customers into its department stores. Chief executive Andy Street said while John Lewis’ restaurants and cafeterias were profitable and provided good quality, “middle of the road” food, they were not “cutting edge” brands. “There [...]
Labour U-turn on criticism of Tesco and Next August 12, 2013 LABOUR’S immigration spokesman Chris Bryant yesterday endured a day from hell as he attempted to defuse a row with two retail giants while launching a new immigration policy. Bryant had planned to attack Tesco and Next for allegedly preferring cheap employees from eastern Europe at the expense of British workers. But after the firms complained [...]