500,000 Wal-Mart workers are getting a pay rise February 19, 2015 Nearly half a million Wal-Mart workers found out they were getting a pay rise today, as chief executive Doug McMillon moved to reassure them of their value to the company. The retail giant, which owns Asda in the UK, will be giving pay rises to around 500,000 full and part-time staff throughout the US [...]
At last – 99p petrol is here… in Birmingham January 12, 2015 Motorists can finally fill up their tanks for less than £1 a litre – as long as they’re prepared to drive to the Midlands. The bargain petrol went on sale at the Harvest Energy service station in Birmingham for 99.7p. The motoring organisation RAC said the price was the lowest it had seen in the [...]
Kennedy Wilson makes £503m swoop on UK property assets December 22, 2014 KENNEDY Wilson Europe Real Estate has bought a £503m portfolio of 180 mixed-use properties from receivers working on behalf of Aviva Commercial Real Estate Finance. The company, part of the Beverley Hills-based property group that raised £1bn through a London float earlier this year, said the 3.5m square feet portfolio is spread across the UK, [...]
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 [...]
Tesco hopes Allan is the key to resolving its lingering problems February 17, 2015 John Allan turned around Dixons, but can he now reboot Tesco? ONE sat on the board of high street electricals giant Dixons Carphone while the other has already led a successful turnaround of supermarket Asda. Both Archie Norman and John Allan were considered strong contenders for the chairman role at Tesco, but last night the [...]
Lidl and Aldi see spending growth soar over 30pc December 14, 2014 Discount supermarkets, such as of Lidl and Aldi, are on track to be the clear winners in the lead up to Christmas with year-to-date spend growth of 31 per cent. Meanwhile, their mainstream rivals, including the big four of Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrison’s, have seen spending fall 4.1 per cent in the same period, [...]
Petrol price cut by 2p as big four supermarkets fuel price war brings £1 a lite petrol ever closer January 12, 2015 There seems to be no let-up in the supermarket fuel price war as another wave of cuts to the price of petrol was announced on Monday. The big four supermarkets are all slicing 2p off their petrol and diesel. Unfortunately for motorists, the supermarkets are still some way off being able to retail for below [...]
Energy bills set to shrink as oil price plummets January 6, 2015 OIL PRICES continued to fall yesterday, after driving markets down on Monday. Brent crude stayed below $53, the lowest it has been since 2009 and fell to as low as $50.85 during the day. Meanwhile US benchmark WTI remained below what ETX Capital strategist Daniel Sugarman termed the “psychological barrier” of $50 a barrel. Consumers [...]
Are you a Waitrose Wendy or a Tesco Tracey: How do the UK’s supermarket shoppers look? November 17, 2014 What does a Waitrose shopper look like, and how would you tell them apart from a Sainsbury's regular? There's actually not much to choose between them, according to YouGov, which has just released the best visualisation tool we've seen for a while. What YouGov says is particular (as opposed to generally true) about [...]
Morrisons share price falls as it announces 23 store closures after losses mount and sales drop March 12, 2015 A bad morning for Morrisons. The supermarket announced it will close 23 stores and cutting its future dividend pay-out after reporting a large full-year loss and falling quarterly sales. Shares in the retailer opened one per cent down this morning. The trading environment is a tough one, Morrisons said, and it isn’t expected to get [...]