Living close to Waitrose could boost your house price by 12pc April 3, 2015 Premium properties within easy reach of a Waitrose can command a 12 per cent (£38,831) higher price than similar properties in other areas. According to research from Lloyds Bank, houses close to supermarkets enjoy, on average, a seven per cent higher price than other properties in the same town. Lloyds compared the average house prices [...]
Spring a bottle: The perfect wines to crack open over Easter weekend, from Riesling to Sauternes April 2, 2015 Easter is almost upon us, which means it’s time to put away those hearty reds that have kept us warm through the long winter months and drink something altogether lighter and more refreshing. So what to choose? For a start, I would continue to steer clear of Sauvignon Blanc. It’s too early in the year [...]
Flower power hit by supermarket price wars in UK March 26, 2015 POTATO supplier Producer Investments has found itself in hot water after profits more than halved in the first half, hurt by the supermarket price wars and a bigger-than-expected crop last summer. The Scottish company, which produces and supplies retailers, including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose, with spuds as well as daffodils, said operating profits fell to [...]
Inflation basket of goods: Ecigarettes and craft beer in, yoghurt drinks and sat navs out March 17, 2015 A sign of modern life, or a marker of British society's inexorable slide into middle classness? The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has performed its annual reshuffle of the basket of goods, the items it uses to measure inflation. It's all gone a bit… Waitrose-y. Among the additions to the basket are refills for ecigarettes, [...]
From BHS and John Lewis to TSB and the Apple Watch: What got us talking this week? March 13, 2015 Jeremy Clarkson punched a man over a steak. Blurred Lines went from being the song with questionable gender politics to being a Marvin Gaye rip-off. And somewhere above our heads, a pilot got bored and drew rude pictures using GPS flight data. Here is what got us talking at City A.M. 1. After 15 [...]
Bonus at John Lewis drops on Waitrose sales March 12, 2015 JOHN Lewis Partnership slashed staff bonuses to 11 per cent of pay, the lowest level for 12 years, after profits fell at its grocery chain Waitrose. The partnership’s 93,800 employees will receive a total pay out of £156.2m, which is equivalent to nearly six weeks’ salary. The supermarket price war, a deflationary market and a significantly [...]
John Lewis Partnership slashes bonus as Waitrose profits fall March 12, 2015 The John Lewis Partnership, known for its generous staff incentives, has slashed the bonus payout to its partners after a hit on profits at its upmarket grocery chain Waitrose. Staff will receive a bonus of 11 per cent of their annual salary, down from last year's 15 per cent – the third annual decline in a row. [...]
Tesco recovers from 18 months of slow sales March 10, 2015 TESCO has posted its strongest performance in 18 months, with sales up 1.1 per cent compared with 2014, according to industry data for the 12 weeks ending 1 March. The latest grocery share figures from Kantar Worldpanel suggest that the major overhaul of strategy at the UK’s biggest retailer by new chief executive Dave Lewis [...]
Grocery price war continues: Tesco’s rebound hurts Asda as Aldi reaches record market share March 10, 2015 Tesco's return to growth is stealing market share from Asda, according to the latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel. The sector as a whole is still hugely competitive: the grocery price war has driven supermarket deflation to a record level of 1.6 per cent for the 12 weeks to March 1. Kantar estimated that this had [...]
Ocado sales jump 19.2 per cent as company says it expects to keep growing ahead of the curve March 10, 2015 The figures Ocado’s group sales jumped 19.2 per cent in the 12 weeks to 22 February, rising to £271.1m, from £227.5m during the same period last year. Meanwhile, retail sales were up a similarly impressive 15.2 per cent to £252.0m, two months after the company reported its first profit. Ocado said that on 22 February it had [...]