Morrisons’ takeover of McColl’s won’t risk higher prices for vast majority of shoppers, CMA says September 8, 2022 Morrisons’ takeover of McColl’s newsagents has resulted in competition concerns in just a small number of areas, a watchdog has found. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the supermarket’s £190m rescue deal meant that the vast majority of areas will not face reduced competition. However, in 35 areas, the deal has presented price increase [...]
Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsbury’s suspend sales of disposable barbecues amid heatwave August 12, 2022 Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsbury’s are among a slew of household names to halt sales of disposable barbecues owing to warm weather concerns. There have been warnings about potential fires due to high temperatures this summer, as large swathes of the country have been categorised as drought status. Morrisons said in a statement on Friday: “In [...]
High street names including Tesco and Greggs call on Tory leadership candidates to slash ‘shop tax’ August 9, 2022 A coalition of retailers including Morrisons, Greggs and Tesco, have called on the Conservative party leader candidates to slash business rates. The Retail Jobs Alliance has called on both Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss to pledge to cut business rates, which it said were “killing our high streets”. The group, consisting of Co-op, Greggs, Kingfisher, [...]
Cost of living: Morrisons follows Tesco and Asda in announcing fuel price cut of 6p per litre August 3, 2022 Morrisons is the latest supermarket to announce it is slashing the price of fuel, as households struggle to stay afloat amid a cost of living crisis. The retailer said on Wednesday that it had cut the cost of unleaded and diesel by an average of six pence a litre over the last week at all [...]
Competition watchdog CMA launches probe into Morrisons takeover of McColl’s July 13, 2022 The CMA, the UK’s competition watchdog, confirmed this morning the launch of a ‘phase one’ investigation into Morrisons’ takeover of McColl’s. Bradford-based supermarket chain Morrisons snapped up McColl’s in a £190m rescue deal in May after the convenience chain collapsed into administration in light of soaring costs due to supply chain disruption, inflation and its [...]
JD Sports hires former Morrisons chair Andrew Higginson to fill the boots of Peter Cowgill after 18 years at the helm July 8, 2022 JD Sports has hired Andrew Higginson to help fill the boots of Peter Cowgill as the sportswear retailer’s new chair. Mr Cowgill stepped down from JD Sports in May after 18 year as the company’s executive chairman. The resignation came after the company was fined £4.3 million by the competition watchdog for exchanging information with [...]
Sales at Morrisons drop as supermarket boss cites ‘very fragile’ trading environment June 29, 2022 Supermarket Morrisons has seen sales drop by 6.4 per cent in the second quarter of the year, blaming a “very fragile and difficult consumer environment.” In a trading update for the 13 weeks ending 1 May, the grocer said it had experienced a “very challenging” trading environment with cash-strapped Brits tightening their belts as inflation [...]
Morrisons mulls sale of warehouses and fisheries in £600m deal June 12, 2022 Morrisons’ private equity owner is scouting for a buyer for its estate of warehouses, fisheries and food manufacturing hubs in a sale worth more than £600m. The New York private equity titan is mulling a sale-and-leaseback transaction in an endeavour to power returns from its £7bn takeover of the British grocer, according to a report [...]
Morrisons’ private equity owner clears final regulatory hurdle for £7bn supermarket sweep June 9, 2022 The competition watchdog has given the green light to Morrisons’ private equity owner, meaning the deal has now cleared regulatory checks. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had provisionally accepted Clayton, Dubilier & Rice’s offer to sell 87 petrol stations in order to address competition concerns. Now, the watchdog said it has accepted the undertakings [...]
Competition concerns: Morrisons’ takeover of McColl’s probed by CMA May 30, 2022 The competition watchdog is probing Morrisons’ takeover of beleaguered newsagent operator McColl’s, it has been confirmed. The Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) said on Monday it had launched an inquiry to investigate whether the takeover will impact competition in the UK, with an initial enforcement order. The two businesses will be instructed to compete as [...]