Tesco AGM: Lewis grilled over pay, performance and strategy but all resolutions passed June 26, 2015 Tesco bosses faced a grilling by shareholders today, fending off complaints about customer service, overall strategy and – of course – pay. But by the end of the AGM it was clear the supermarket's shareholders weren't revolting – at least not as much as some thought they might be. All of Tesco's resolutions, at least [...]
Dixons Carphone boss Sebastian James steals Retail Week Power List crown from Next’s Simon Wolfson June 26, 2015 Dixons Carphone chief executive Sebastian James has been crowned the most powerful person in British retailing, knocking Next's Simon Wolfson off the top spot. James has stolen the number one position in Retail Week's annual Power List, published today, for his work successfully merging the two retailers, creating a £10bn business that swooped into [...]
Tesco’s share price soars after reporting smallest decline in more than a year June 26, 2015 Tesco's share price climbed 3.6 per cent this morning as investors digested what appear to be the first signs of a turnaround under new chief executive Dave Lewis. The troubled supermarket has reported its smallest declines in more than a year, while volumes are up. The figures Tesco has stemmed its declines – group [...]
Tesco tops suppliers’ naughty list over groceries code June 22, 2015 Tesco has been on the receiving end of more than half of issues raised by suppliers with the new Groceries Code adjudicator in the last year. The troubled supermarket was at the centre of 54 per cent of complaints made, with 11 per cent of Tesco's suppliers going to the new government ombudsman, according [...]
From anti-austerity protests to remote-controlled cars: Here’s what got us talking this week June 19, 2015 There was plenty of Greek drama. RBS had to call in the boys from the IT Crowd. And some guy got a new job talking about cars. Here's what got us talking this week 1) There's going to be a huge protest in London today There will be tens of thousands of [...]
Aldi fined over price-fixing in Germany June 18, 2015 Aldi is among the retailers fined by Germany's competition authority over price fixing. Read more: Bargain Booze is playing Aldi at its own game The discounter is one of seven food retailers and four producers which have been fined €151.6m (£108.9m) over price fixing on "some products". Andreas Mundt, the president of Germany's cartel office, [...]
Billion Poundland: Profits up 18.6 per cent for budget retailer in first year since IPO June 18, 2015 Poundland’s profits soared 18.6 per cent in the 12 months to 29 March as it passed £1bn in sales for the first time. Read more: Poundland brings forward competition probe into 99p Stores deal The figures Underlying pre-tax profit hit £43.7m, an 18.6 per cent increase on 2014’s £36.8m. Total sales rose 11.9 per cent to [...]
Waitrose PYOO (“pick your own offers”) ups game in supermarket price wars with Aldi, Lidl and big four June 17, 2015 Middle England favourite Waitrose has upped the stakes in the supermarket price wars with what it's calling "game-changing" discounts. The latest salvo in the battle with Aldi, Lidl and the big four – and adding a new acronym to our lingo almost as good as BOGOF – is "Pick Your Own Offers", or PYOO, which is [...]
City and Gild: Premium brands should beware the temptation to “be more Aldi” June 17, 2015 So the head of the Boarding Schools Association, Robin Fletcher, has apparently encouraged his members to be more like Aldi, and cut their prices to offer a budget version in an effort to appeal to a larger market. If filling spaces were the issue for boarding schools, then this could be an approach you [...]
Co-operative Group to spend £125m slashing the price of fruit and veg in its supermarkets – including introducing the 39p cucumber June 17, 2015 The Co-operative has just drawn its battle line in the supermarket price wars, after it announced plans to spend £125m slashing prices. Read more: Aldi Shmaldi – How Bargain Booze is playing German discounter at its own game Its weapon of choice? The humble cucumber, the price of which will be slashed to just 39p, [...]