Ocado sued by Norwegian tech firm over alleged patent infringement October 1, 2020 Shares in online supermarket Ocado dipped this afternoon after Norwegian tech firm Autostore announced it is suing the firm for alleged patent infringement. Ocado’s share price fell more than five per cent after Autostore said it had filed lawsuits in the UK and the US to prevent the FTSE 100 firm using retail storage and [...]
John Lewis scraps staff bonus as it crashes to £635m loss September 17, 2020 John Lewis today confirmed it will not pay a staff bonus for the first time in more than 70 years as the department store chain posted a pre-tax loss of £635m in the first half. The retailer reported a 2.7 per cent uptick in revenue to £4.9bn over the period, but said shoppers had spent [...]
Waitrose axes 124 jobs amid closure of unprofitable stores September 16, 2020 Waitrose has announced plans to axe four unprofitable stores, putting 124 jobs at risk. The supermarket said it will close shops in Caldicot, Ipswich Corn Exchange and Shrewsbury, while a fourth branch in Wolverhampton will be sold to Tesco. Waitrose said today that trading at the stores had been “challenging” and it had not found [...]
Eat Out to Help Out wipes £155m off supermarket sales September 15, 2020 The government’s Eat Out to Help Out discount scheme saw £155m knocked off supermarket sales last month as consumers ate fewer meals at home. Brits spent less at supermarkets in the four weeks to 6 September compared to July as the discount scheme encouraged people to venture out to restaurants and cafes. Alcohol supermarket sales [...]
Ocado sales surge as consumers switch to online shopping September 15, 2020 Ocado sales soared in the third quarter as more customers continued to switch to online shopping due to the pandemic. Retail revenue surged 52 per cent to £587.3m in the 13 weeks to 30 August due to high demand for home grocery deliveries. Ocado’s share price jumped 5.99 per cent this morning after it forecast [...]
Chicken feed: Deliveroo signs restaurant deal with Nando’s September 11, 2020 Chicken lovers will now be able to order Nando’s to their door after the restaurant chain signed a partnership with Deliveroo. The food platform today said it will roll out delivery for Nando’s meals nationwide, with 360 restaurants now taking orders. The peri-peri favourite previously offered its own delivery service, though this was only available [...]
Haulage firm Wincanton sees shares jump on home delivery surge September 9, 2020 Shares in logistics firm Wincanton jumped over 10 per cent this morning as the haulage specialist said that full year profit was on course to be “materially ahead” of forecasts. In a trading update, the FTSE 250 firm said that it had seen a “continued improvement in profitability in July and August, with a particularly [...]
The nation’s health is priority number one, but we must continue the great work we’ve done to reduce plastics use August 28, 2020 Recent government figures revealed that since the introduction of the 5p carrier bag charge, new carrier bag sales have fallen by 59 per cent in the past year in England’s major supermarkets. This translates to shoppers buying, on average, just four new bags per year compared to 10 the previous year. This is a significant [...]
Waitrose launches Deliveroo trial as Ocado partnership ends August 28, 2020 Waitrose has launched a partnership with Deliveroo as its deal with online supermarket Ocado comes to an end. The grocer said that more than 500 products will be available to order through Deliveroo as part of an initial 12 week trial. Customers will be able to order from stores in Bracknell and Clifton from Tuesday, [...]
Ocado finance chief steps down due to ‘family circumstances’ August 27, 2020 Ocado’s finance chief will step down after eight years with the online supermarket, citing family circumstances as the reason for his departure. Duncan Tatton-Brown, who was appointed as Ocado’s chief financial officer in 2012, will leave the role in November, but will continue as a non-executive director. Tatton-Brown said family circumstances meant that it is [...]