On a roll: Greggs boosts sales and profits July 30, 2019 Bakery chain Greggs said today that its sales for the first half were up 14 per cent on the previous year. Sales hit £546m in the six months to 29 June which Greggs said was helped by the popularity of its vegan sausage roll. Underlying pre-tax profit margin rose to 7.5 per cent from 5.4 [...]
Shakespeare on advertising: Boots hit the mark with Kylie campaign July 22, 2021 Boots recently announced a partnership with Kylie Cosmetics. The American beauty company started out as a manufacturer of lip kits – and a brand-extension exercise for its namesake Keeping Up with the Kardashians star – before becoming a billion-dollar industry juggernaut. The brand’s cosmetics will be sold throughout Boots’ UK stores. Data from YouGov BrandIndex [...]
Asda trials delivering food orders while customers are out in bid to sustain online shopping momentum May 7, 2021 Asda is trialling delivering unattended food orders, allowing drivers to drop off customers’ shopping when no one is home. The trial allows shopping to be delivered within a four-hour window when the customer is out by dropping it into boxes fixed outside the shopper’s home. It comes as supermarkets aim to sustain the momentum in [...]
Exclusive: Charging firm EO signs deal to power-up Tesco’s EV fleet October 10, 2021 Electric vehicle (EV) solutions provider EO Charging has secured a deal to power Tesco’s fleet of electric vans, EO told City A.M. EO Charging, founded in 2014 in Suffolk, will provide the supermarket giant with more than 200 AC fast chargers as well as 5 DC rapid ones across five depots – including Oxford, Glasgow, [...]
Tesco, M&S and John Lewis among UK retail giants to threaten Brazil boycott over Amazon deforestation May 5, 2021 UK retail giants including Tesco, Marks & Spencer and John Lewis have threatened to boycott Brazillian agricultural commodities over the deforestation of the Amazon. In an open letter published today the retailers said they will take action if Brazil’s government passes a law expanding property rights for squatters on public land. Campaigners have warned that [...]
Ferguson sees profit rise as US home improvement demand soars March 16, 2021 Plumbing group Ferguson raised its dividend and announced a share buyback on Tuesday after posting a higher half-year profit. The firm was buoyed by cost control measures and a strong home improvement demand in its biggest market, the US. The London-listed company, which has a secondary US listing, said underlying trading profit rose to $837m [...]
Asda rolls out one-hour home delivery service across 96 stores October 8, 2021 Asda said this morning it is planning to extend its one-hour express delivery service to 96 stores following a successful trial over the summer. The service gives customers access to Asda’s full online range of more than 30,000 grocery products for delivery within the hour if they live within a three-mile radius of a store [...]
Second chances: Ex-offenders could help solve recruitment crisis February 28, 2022 “I always wanted to be a drug dealer. Getting a job would have been strange to me,” Liam Meredith, an ex-offender who now runs his own catering business, says. Many young men like Meredith struggle to break a cycle of offending even after they leave prison, due to tumultuous home lives. For men like Meredith, [...]
Billionaire Issa brothers snap up fast food chain Leon April 18, 2021 The billionaire brothers behind Asda have snapped up British fast food chain Leon in a deal worth a reported £100m. Mohsin and Zuber Issa, who have agreed a £6.8bn deal to buy Asda, are now swooping on the London-based food chain through their petrol station empire EG Group. The transaction, which includes 42 company-owned restaurants [...]
Greggs cooking up vegan versions of all its most popular products August 23, 2019 Greggs is working on plans for vegan versions of all of its best selling products following the success of the bakery’s vegan sausage rolls, its chief executive has announced. “We are plugging away at seeing if we can come up with a vegan version of all our top-selling lines. Obviously people want a vegan option,” [...]