Morrisons is the only big four grocer “currently on right track”, says Nielsen June 5, 2015 Morrisons waits for good news for months and then three come along at once. The supermarket – which has, until now, been one of the more unloved – has already had one set of figures prove it's the only one of the big four in growth, which in turn prompted a share price rally, [...]
No Waitrose, no cry: Why the music you listen to defines your social class – and Bob Marley fans are decidedly middle class June 4, 2015 The music you most enjoy listening to is a strong indicator of your social class, according to new research from the University of British Columbia – and it turns out those who like reggae are surprisingly middle class. By asking 1,600 adults from varying backgrounds about their feelings towards 21 different genres of music, [...]
Morrisons the only “big four” supermarket in growth June 2, 2015 Is this a case of too little too late or the beginning of a turnaround? Morrisons was the only one of the “big four” supermarkets to grow over the last 12 weeks, according to latest figures by Kantar Worldpanel. The supermarket, which this week faces demotion from the FSTE 100, managed a sluggish 0.1 [...]
Fighting forward: The Black Farmer’s Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones talks sausages, political incorrectness and willpower May 31, 2015 Being an entrepreneur is all about timing. You can have the best-laid plans in the world, a huge amount of skill, but it’s really about catching the zeitgeist.” This is Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones’s opening line to me. After a brief pause, he adds, “life is also all about timing”. This is something the founder of [...]
IPOs breathe life into stagnant small caps after investment struggle May 5, 2015 Investments in the UK’s smaller companies have struggled this year, but some fund managers are hoping that newly-listed companies will help revive the sector. Since the start of the year, small caps quoted on the FTSE Aim All-Share TR index have lagged their large-cap peers on the FTSE 100. But since April, smaller companies have [...]
Sainsbury’s braced for first loss in a decade as supermarkets move to downsize May 5, 2015 Battling with excess space and a revival at Tesco, Sainsbury’s is having to fight harder than ever. It is early on a weekday morning, and the first wave of customers are yet to arrive at Sainsbury’s revamped store in Wandsworth – its aisles stacked high with everything from garden furniture to Le Creuset-style saucepans [...]
Easter “masks” wider problems in supermarket sector as price war continues to take toll on Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury and Morrisons April 10, 2015 Supermarkets experienced their first growth in spend during March – but the early Easter is “masking” the sector's problems, Nielsen claims. Sales rose 0.7 per cent for the four weeks to March 28 against the same period last year. The last time grocers saw an increase in spend was April last year, when Easter distorted [...]
Aldi becomes sixth biggest food retailer but sales growth slows April 8, 2015 ALDI has overtaken Waitrose as the UK’s sixth biggest supermarket, according to figures out yesterday that also cautioned that growth among the discounters was slowing. Aldi’s sales grew by 16.8 per cent in the 12 weeks to 30 March compared with a year earlier, taking its market share to 5.3 per cent, data from Kantar [...]
Aldi plans store assault on Greater London April 8, 2015 Aldi is planning to open a further eight stores in Greater London this year, creating 600 new jobes, as part of the supermarket's plans to double its presence around the UK. The new stores will be in Enfield, South Norwood, Tooting and Coulson. It will also open in Ewell, Surrey; Dartford in Kent and Essex [...]
Aldi knocks Waitrose off its spot as UK’s sixth biggest supermarket April 8, 2015 Aldi has overtaken Waitrose to become the UK's sixth biggest supermarket. The budget supermarket, which has recorded double-digit sales growth for the past four years, now has 5.3 per cent of the country's spend on groceries, according to Kantar Worldpanel. Waitrose is still in growth – in fact just one of three to see [...]