A taste of Mother Russia in a Knightsbridge salon August 13, 2012 RESTAURANT MARI VANNA 116 Knightsbridge, SW1X 7PJ el: 020 7225 3122 FOOD ** SERVICE **** ATMOSPHERE **** Cost per person without wine: £55 There are two facts you need to know about Mari Vanna. One: it’s done up like a Russian babushka’s dining room – albeit one with a more than a dollop of Tsarist [...]
M&S sales fall flat as it fails to carve a fashion identity July 10, 2012 THE RETAILER famous for £10 meals and the Per Una brand has stumbled. In this age of austerity, it may come as little surprise that a firm like M&S is falling short. But in reporting its weakest quarterly figures for seven years, its challenges run far deeper. Although M&S’s food sales grew by 2.9 per [...]
Ocado sees shares slide as it lacks Jubilee cheer June 26, 2012 SHARES in Ocado crashed by 20 per cent yesterday after the online supermarket admitted that the Jubilee celebrations had disrupted trading and it could see a similar effect during the Olympics. The share sell-off came even as the retailer reported a four per cent increase in pre-tax profit to £181,000, in the six months to [...]
Ocado says sales hit by Jubilee June 26, 2012 Online supermarket Ocado said trade in its third quarter was disrupted by celebrations to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee as it posted a 4.5 per cent rise in underlying first half earnings. “The third quarter is particularly hard to forecast as we have already seen some disruption from the Jubilee events, and there is [...]
Ocado to name Tatton-Brown as finance chief June 24, 2012 DUNCAN TATTON-BROWN, the former finance boss of debt-laden gym chain Fitness First, is this week set to be named as the new finance director of online supermarket Ocado. Tatton-Brown was fired along with other top Fitness First executives in February as part of a radical boardroom shake-up by the troubled gym group’s private equity backers, [...]
Jubilee gives grocers £200m turnover boost June 19, 2012 BRITAIN’S grocery market grew 3.2 per cent in the 12 weeks to 10 June, boosted by an 11.3 per cent leap in the run-up to the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee celebrations, industry data revealed yesterday. Market researcher Kantar WorldPanel said supermarkets took an extra £213m in the tills in the week ending 3 June. “The [...]
Waitrose feasts on record sales in Jubilee week June 6, 2012 DEMAND for British favourites such as scotch eggs, sausage rolls and ales to wash down street party festivities helped Waitrose serve up record-breaking sales in the run-up to the Diamond Jubilee. Sales surged 19.8 per cent in the week to Saturday 2 June to a total of £123m, Waitrose’s highest ever trading week with the [...]
John Lewis sales boosted by TVs May 25, 2012 John Lewis, Britain’s biggest department store group, continued its run of double digit weekly sales increases, helped by wet weather, television sales boosted by the digital switchover and demand for Jubilee themed products. The employee-owned retailer has been growing sales even though official data this week said overall UK retail sales fell last month at [...]
Ocado points to fresh growth as revenues surge May 23, 2012 ONLINE supermarket Ocado yesterday announced an acceleration in sales growth for the second quarter, raising hopes that the firm has overcome last year’s distribution problems that damaged consumer confidence. Shares in the company, whose range includes products supplied by upmarket grocer Waitrose, rose 6.8 per cent after it said sales in the quarter to 13 [...]
Ocado sales growth accelerates May 23, 2012 Online British supermarket Ocado posted an acceleration in sales growth in its second quarter, raising hopes it has got to grips with bottlenecks at its distribution centre that led to a string of profit downgrades last year. Shares in Ocado, whose range includes products supplied by upmarket grocer Waitrose jumped 6.8 per cent on Wednesday [...]