Two of the big four supermarkets pay less than the cost of production for milk, Sainsbury’s advert claims January 21, 2015 Sainsbury's has revealed how much supermarkets pay farmers for milk- and claims that at least two of the big four stump up less than the cost of production. The figures have been released as part of the grocer's latest ad campaign, which claims that “at Sainsbury's we support our British fresh milk farmers,” asking [...]
Ex Tesco-chief Sir Terry Leahy: Supermarket suffered “failure of leadership” under Philip Clarke January 19, 2015 The man widely credited with turning Tesco into Britain's biggest supermarket chain has criticised his successor, saying there was a "failure of leadership." "People tried very hard to do the right thing, it clearly has not worked," former chief executive Sir Terry Leah said in an interview to be broadcast on the BBC's Panorama programme tonight. "In [...]
In a supermarket version of The Apprentice, Alan Sugar would have a whale of a time January 16, 2015 Imagine an Apprentice supermarket special – Alan Sugar, flanked by his experts, reviewing the practices of the big supermarkets each week. “[Morrisons' soon-to-depart chief exec] Dalton Phillips, you took far too long to introduce smaller convenience stores, ecommerce and a delivery service. The other supermarkets have had these things for years. Honestly, man. What [...]
Tesco tells a third of senior directors they face redundancy or demotion as Dave Lewis’ restructure begins to bite January 16, 2015 Tesco has started warning senior directors that they face redundancy or demotion, as part of a restructure designed to get the supermarket back on track. Around a third of these key decision-makers have been told by Tesco top brass that they face redundancy or “changed responsibilities at a lower work level”, according to [...]
Ocado outperforms its rivals during Christmas and sees sales rise 15pc January 14, 2015 ONLINE grocer Ocado yesterday announced that it had outperformed its traditional supermarket rivals over Christmas, adding it was confident about prospects in 2015 despite an escalating price war. The firm, whose range includes products supplied by upmarket grocer Waitrose, said sales growth in December continued at the rate it achieved in the final quarter of [...]
Standard & Poor’s cuts Tesco to junk January 14, 2015 Standard & Poor's (S&P) today downgraded Tesco to junk status, suggesting the ratings agency is unconvinced by the turnaround strategy unveiled by new chief executive Dave Lewis last week. The grocer's senior long-term credit rating was lowered to BB+ from BBB-. It is unlikely to go any lower than this however, with S&P saying the [...]
Discounters Aldi and Lidl win Christmas as over half of UK visit their shops January 13, 2015 German discounters were the clear winners in the battle for Christmas sales, after more than half of all UK households shopped at their stores. While families typically treat themselves at Christmas and head to the big four, discounters have grabbed market share with clever ad campaigns and cheap offers on premium items such as champagne. [...]
German food discounters Aldi and Lidl enjoy premium branding buzz – Brand Index January 13, 2015 In another blow to traditional British grocers in the ongoing supermarket price war, budget food retailers Aldi and Lidl are the highest performing brands in YouGov’s BrandIndex Buzz score rankings for 2014. But there is still good news for some more of Britain’s most loved retailers, such as John Lewis and Marks & Spencer. The [...]
Asda overtaken by Sainsbury’s as UK’s second largest supermarket but big four continue to slide January 13, 2015 Asda has lost its title as the second largest supermarket in the UK to Sainsbury's, while discounters Aldi and Lidl continue making gains on the big four. Of the big four – Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons – sales fell by the smallest amount at Sainsbury’s, down 0.7 per cent. This helped it regain second place [...]
Sainsbury’s axes 500 jobs as part of cost-cutting drive January 13, 2015 Sainsbury's has announced plans to axe 500 jobs as part of a cost-cutting exercise, as the UK supermarket battle continues to heat up. Sainsbury's, which is the UK's second largest supermarket, said the job cuts would be across "all divisions and grades in our store support centres". A consultation on the job losses will start [...]