A bank is close to replacing Waitrose as the main sponsor of English cricket June 17, 2016 Waitrose is set to be replaced as the main sponsor of English cricket by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) offshoot Natwest, reports have suggested. The supermarket announced in February that 2016 will be its last year as the main partner of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). Today Sky News reported RBS was in advanced [...]
This £5 supermarket Malbec has been named the world’s best red wine June 13, 2016 It looks like it's officially time to embrace supermarket plonk, after Asda rode to a surprise victory with one of the world's best red wines at the Decanter World Wine Awards. The supermarket toasted the success this weekend of its Chilean La Moneda Reserva Malbec after it won the top prize in the single-varietal red under £15 category at the awards, [...]
UK advertisers have most faith in Paloma, who is enjoying the good life June 10, 2016 Paloma Faith sold out more than just concert venues last year. New research has today named her as the most popular popstar among advertisers. Faith was the artist of choice for four major brands – Calvin Klein, Dixons, Simply Be and Eastern Western – in 2015, according to research by Adbreakanthems and BPI. Read more: [...]
West Berkshire Brewery raises glass as it expands into Islington-based pub Shillibeers and puts pen to paper on new brewery June 2, 2016 Crowdfunding beer maker West Berkshire Brewery is raising a glass after it put pen to paper on a new £3m custom-built brewery and secured its first urban pub, Shillibeers, in Islington. The new brewery will allow West Berkshire to increase its brewing capacity tenfold and also to provide packaging for other breweries. The brewer has said the [...]
The supermarket squeeze: Big four supermarkets outperformed by discounters and premium competitors June 1, 2016 The big four food retailers – Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons – are suffering in the supermarket squeeze today as both discount and premium challengers boasted the strongest sales growth. Tesco had the smallest drop in sales of the big four, at 0.1 per cent, and Asda the biggest, with a 5.1 per cent decline in sales. Discounters Aldi and [...]
Get ready for good, cheap wine in east London: Aldi opens first dedicated wine store May 25, 2016 Can you have too much of a good thing? Aldi doesn't seem to think so. The budget supermarket – which has won plaudits for its wine range, including beating Waitrose to be crowned supermarket of the year at the Drinks Retailing Awards – is launching its own dedicated "ultra-modern" wine store in Shoreditch's Boxpark. The store consists of glass wine [...]
Aldi taps into UK craft beer market in £600m deal with 18 new offerings May 22, 2016 Cut-price supermarket Aldi has launched a £600m initiative to tap into the UK's burgeoning craft beer industry. From 29 May, the bargain grocer will stock 18 UK brewed craft beers in its English and Welsh stories. The beers will be sold as a "Specialbuy" purchase, meaning a limited number of beers have been brought in as [...]
Google’s Apple Pay rival Android Pay is finally here in the UK May 18, 2016 Good news for anyone eager to pay using just the swipe of their mobile, but who doesn't own an iPhone. Google's Android Pay is launching in the UK today, bringing the tap and pay technology to millions of smartphone users across the country. A rival to Apple Pay which launched last year, the app lets users pay by [...]
Five challenges Amazon faces plotting its own-brand products May 17, 2016 Reports that Amazon is branching out into private-label groceries make sense for the retail giant. In a sluggish market own label is one of the few healthy areas, growing by 1.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2016. Retailers aren’t seen as credible without an own label range, but developing a strong offer takes time and Amazon will [...]
British Airways could be about to charge for food on short-haul flights May 16, 2016 British Airways looks set to cave in to the pressure from low-cost airlines and start charging economy passengers for in-flight meals on its short-haul flights, according to reports this afternoon. The flag-carrier has clutched on to its in-flight perks as a key point of differentiation with the likes of Easyjet and Ryanair after the budget [...]