Tesco boss Dave Lewis pledges to simplify relationship with suppliers October 6, 2015 Tesco boss Dave Lewis has pledged to simplify the way the supermarket does business with suppliers as part of his efforts to change the behaviour at the group in the wake of its accounting scandal last year. Speaking at the IGD conference in Westminster this afternoon, Lewis announced plans to speed up payments so its [...]
SuperGroup share price falls after surprise exit of chief operating officer Susanne Given February 12, 2015 SuperGroup's share price fell this morning after it revealed chief operating officer Susanne Given has left the company. Her role is being made redundant, with SuperGroup saying her responsibilities would be “absorbed by the executive team”, so the heads of UK retail, IT and logistics will report directly into chief executive Euan Sutherland. [...]
Samsonite takes off with airport luggage retailer February 17, 2015 SAMSONITE has found a home for its bags after snapping up the airport retail chain Rolling Luggage yesterday from turnaround specialist Rcapital in a £15.75m deal. The Hong Kong-listed luggage-maker said the deal would help to provide a platform for its brands while also giving it a foothold in the booming travel market as airports [...]
Waitrose pulls a Christmas cracker with festive sales January 14, 2015 Things may be bleak for the big four supermarkets, but for the smaller, challenger, businesses initial signs are that Christmas was a real cracker. Waitrose has topped off a strong year, in which it had grown market share to five per cent by December, according to its Christmas figures published today. The John [...]
Cork blimey! Christmas champagne outsells semi-skimmed milk at Lidl January 4, 2015 Shoppers at budget supermarket chain Lidl bought more champagne than semi-skimmed milk this Christmas, the retailer has revealed. Figures show that savvy customers snapped up so many bottles of Lidl’s £11.99 Comte De Senneval champagne that it knocked the store’s usual bestseller, semi-skimmed milk, off the top spot for the festive season. The champagne has [...]
City Moves for 05 March 2015 | Who’s switching jobs March 4, 2015 Aon Hewitt The talent, retirement and health solutions business has appointed Adrian Mitchell as partner and senior portfolio manager in its delegated consulting services team. He joins from the John Lewis Partnership Pensions Trust, where he was chief investment officer. Mitchell has also held senior positions at Proxima Alfa UK Investments, FF&P Asset Management, JP [...]
Luke Johnson among mentors for John Lewis incubator scheme April 14, 2014 JOHN Lewis yesterday announced a 12-strong panel of experts, including entrepreneur Luke Johnson, who will help advise and judge the technology start-ups competing to develop the next big thing for its stores. The department store group is setting up a technology incubator called JLAB, with five successful firms given office space and advice to come [...]
Marks & Spencer seeks customer loyalty with digital coffee app trial January 21, 2015 Marks & Spencer's chief executive Marc Bolland knows something about the power of loyalty. In his case it's shareholder (and staff) sticking with him despite three and a half years-worth of consecutive declines in clothing sales. But the business is also awakening to the fact it's quite helpful if your customers are loyal, [...]
Waitrose plans expansion and 2,000 new jobs January 27, 2015 Waitrose announced plans yesterday to create 2,000 new jobs as the upmarket supermarket continues to expand its presence and grab a greater slice of the grocery market. The chain, owned by the John Lewis Partnership, will open 14 new stores from spring this year including seven Little Waitrose convenience stores and seven supermarkets, including one [...]
Britain can produce world-beaters – if business speaks up for capitalism April 28, 2015 The startup parliament. That may well be the history books’ verdict on the last five years of our economy. It has been a period in which the UK has flexed its commercial muscles to become one of the most successful enterprise destinations in the world. Of Europe’s 25m small firms, more than five million operate [...]