Contactless payments rising as TfL and retailers drive adoption March 12, 2014 CONTACTLESS payments on the high street jumped nearly 300 per cent last year, according to figures from Visa yesterday. Visa Europe’s director of contactless Mark Austin said that the 94.3m payments had been spurred by Transport for London’s use of contactless on buses last year and the increasing numbers of retailers installing terminals. Adoption from [...]
Discount stores feast on Tesco’s market share March 12, 2014 TESCO’S market share has fallen to its lowest level in almost 10 years as the supermarket and its mid-market peers lose ground to hard discounters Aldi and Lidl. Britain’s biggest supermarket, which announced plans earlier this month to win back shoppers by cutting prices, saw its market share decline to 28.7 per cent in the [...]
Discount stores feast on Tesco’s market share March 11, 2014 TESCO’S market share has fallen to its lowest level in almost 10 years as the supermarket and its mid-market peers lose ground to hard discounters Aldi and Lidl. Britain’s biggest supermarket, which announced plans earlier this month to win back shoppers by cutting prices, saw its market share decline to 28.7 per cent in the [...]
Fancy a brew? Annabel Palmer talks craft beer with Draft House’s Charlie McVeigh March 10, 2014 Draft House founder Charlie McVeigh talks about the perils of the hospitality industry, and how he’s taking advantage of Britain’s real ale renaissance A CRAFT beer revolution has taken hold in Britain. Consumption of independently-brewed beer rose by 22.3m pints to 415m pints in 2012, according to the Society of Independent Brewers. And figures suggest [...]
John Lewis pays 15pc bonus as sales beat M&S March 6, 2014 JOHN Lewis’s partners will share a reduced bonus pot equal to 15 per cent of the average staff salary as the retailer put more money aside to shore up its huge pension fund. The £202.5m bonus, which was announced to 91,000 John Lewis and Waitrose staff yesterday at stores across the country, is equivalent to [...]
John Lewis slims down bonuses to 15pc as pension costs rise March 6, 2014 John Lewis and Waitrose staff will get bonuses worth 15 per cent of their salaries today – from a bonus pool of £202.5m – after getting 17 per cent last year. 2013’s bonus is equivalent to around eight weeks’ pay. The partnership spent more on servicing its pension fund last year, with the deficit increasing [...]
Tesco slashed the price of milk. Here’s how dairy farmers have responded March 3, 2014 Dairy farmers have accused Tesco of sparking a price war with its supermarket rivals that will cause further damage to an already fragile dairy industry, after the retail giant slashed the price of milk. Britain’s biggest food retailer delivered a fresh broadside in the battle for customers’ loyalty after cutting the price of a four [...]
Labour: free coffee to stay March 3, 2014 A LABOUR MP who called on his colleagues to press supermarket chain Waitrose into withdrawing its free coffee and newspaper deal for loyalty card holders has received short shrift from his own party. Andy Sawford accused the firm of taking business away from independent shops, but a Labour spokesperson put an end to the budding [...]
Tesco retreats as Clarke puts the brakes on February 25, 2014 Supermarket pulls out of the space race with plans to slash spending and cut prices TESCO’S chief executive pledged yesterday to put the brakes on its UK expansion and spend £200m slashing prices as Britain’s biggest grocer seeks to revive sales and win back falling market share. Speaking at an investor conference, Philip Clarke laid [...]
Grocery sales grow at slowest pace since 2005 February 11, 2014 BRITAIN’S grocery market is growing at its slowest pace since 2005, with only discounters as well as Waitrose and Sainsbury’s defying the downturn and growing market share. Figures out yesterday from Kantar Worldpanel showed that grocery sales rose by 2.4 per cent in the 12 weeks to 2 February compared with the same time last [...]