Ocado: Thousands of orders cancelled as robots cause fire July 19, 2021 A fire at an Ocado fulfillment centre in south-east London on Friday has caused the online grocer to cancel thousands of orders. The blaze occurred when three of the robots that help pick groceries collided at the Erith site. About 800 staff members had to be evacuated and firefighters worked through the night to stop [...]
Ocado partners with major Spanish grocer as revenue leaps July 6, 2021 Revenue at supermarket Ocado is up significantly on the same period last year, as the online model proved resilient in the face of Covid-19 restrictions. Revenue for the business stood at £1.3bn for the first half of 2021, up 24.4 per cent on H1 2020. Group EBITDA more than tripled to £61m, despite increased [...]
Easing of lockdown restrictions expected to slow growth at online retailer Ocado July 2, 2021 The easing of lockdown restrictions is expected to have slowed down soaring retail sales growth at Ocado as the online retailer unveils it latest trading performance next week. It was among UK grocery firms to see sales spark amid strong demand for home deliveries after the Government enforced lockdown restrictions and forced hospitality operators to [...]
Ocado settles espionage spat with its founder Jonathan Faiman after ‘significant payment’ June 25, 2021 Ocado said today it has settled a legal dispute with its co-founder and a former employee after accusations they secured confidential documents from the online retail firm while they set up a competitor. Ocado Group said Jonathan Faiman, who co-founded the business and exited in 2008, and Jon Hillary, one of its longest-serving employees before [...]
Grocery sales: Ocado on top as supermarkets snag 58m more visits as UK exited lockdown May 25, 2021 As the UK’s vaccination programme pushes on, supermarkets have enjoyed 58m more shopping visits in the first quarter of this year than last year, according to industry data released today. Supermarkets actually had more visits in the 12 weeks to 16 May, than when panic buying gripped shoppers at the start of the pandemic, market [...]
Ocado invests £10m in self-driving vehicle company Oxbotica April 16, 2021 British online grocer Ocado said on Friday it would invest £10m in autonomous vehicle software company Oxbotica in a bid to reduce delivery costs. The partnership will include all aspects of self-driving vehicle development, with the aim of boosting retailers’ customer value proposition through a shift to electrically powered cars. However, vehicles that operated in [...]
Ocado CEO Tim Steiner: M&S products are more popular than Waitrose March 18, 2021 Ocado’s M&S products are favoured over the former Waitrose partnership products with customers, as the company enjoys a doubling of new registrations, the company’s chief executive said this morning. “The M&S product is more popular with our customers than the Waitrose products were,” chief executive Tim Steiner said during an investor call earlier this morning. [...]
City Moves: Who is switching jobs in the Square Mile this week? March 10, 2021 Snakes and Ladders provides a roundup of the most important hires and job moves across the City, every Wednesday afternoon. Email citymoves@cityam.com to be featured. New strategy director joins Wates Construction Wates Construction Group has appointed a new strategy and integration director for its recently formed group of businesses Wates Integrated Construction Services (WICS). Joining the London office, [...]
Ocado opens hub in Bristol as it plans to boost UK capacity by 40 per cent March 1, 2021 Online supermarket retailer Ocado has opened a new mini customer fulfilment centre (CFC) in a bid to expand its reach across the country after a strong 2020. Supporting up to 815 jobs, the Bristol-based centre has the capacity for over 30,000 orders a week and will hep the retailer with its increased demand over lockdown. [...]
Lockdown leaders: Aldi and M&S voted UK’s top in-store supermarkets February 22, 2021 Lockdown leaders: Aldi and M&S voted UK’s top in-store supermarkets