CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 21, 2011 Yorkshire Building Society Chris Pilling, head of branch network at HSBC Bank, has been appointed as chief executive of the UK’s second-largest building society. Pilling will join Yorkshire Building Society on 31 December, taking over from current chief executive Iain Cornish. Prior to joining HSBC as chief executive of its telephone and internet banking arm [...]
Asda to sell 47 of Netto UK shops to rivals January 12, 2011 ASDA, owned by Wal-Mart, has agreed to sell 47 of the stores it plans to buy from Netto UK to rivals including Morrisons and Iceland in order to win regulatory clearance for the deal. Asda has already lined up buyers for 25 of the stores, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said yesterday. The OFT [...]
Asda vows to cost 10pc less January 6, 2011 ASDA has guaranteed to sell 15,000 grocery products at least 10 per cent cheaper than all of its big rivals. The UK’s second largest chain behind Tesco is promising voucher refunds if customers are charged more. Asda chief executive Andy Clarke said: “The Asda Price Guarantee cuts through all the phoney claims and headline numbers, [...]
British Chambers of Commerce names John Longworth new director general July 25, 2011 LEADING industry group the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) yesterday unveiled John Longworth (pictured) as its new director general, taking over from David Frost. Longworth joins the BCC after an extensive series of high profile roles in the British retail sector. Formerly a senior executive at both Asda and Tesco, he is currently a non-exec of [...]
Retail sales fall at fastest rate in a year July 28, 2011 Retail sales fell at their fastest pace in a year and stores expect a further deterioration in August, as hard-hit consumers clamp down on spending, a survey by the Confederation of British Industry showed. The CBI distributive trades survey’s reported sales balance fell to -5 in July from -2 in June, the lowest reading since [...]
Retail sales fall at fastest rate in a year July 28, 2011 Retail sales fell at their fastest pace in a year and stores expect a further deterioration in August, as hard-hit consumers clamp down on spending, a survey by the Confederation of British Industry showed. The CBI distributive trades survey’s reported sales balance fell to -5 in July from -2 in June, the lowest reading since [...]
Price war sees petrol tumble July 3, 2011 PETROL prices fell by over two pence per litre last week, according to data seen by City A.M. A combination of supermarket price wars and a sharp fall in the global price of oil saw the average price of unleaded drop from over 136p per litre to 133.82p. Diesel declined from almost 140p per litre [...]
Wal-Mart sex case fails June 20, 2011 SUPERMARKET giant Wal-Mart yesterday won a case to dismiss a massive class-action sex discrimination lawsuit, after the US Supreme Court unanimously ruled in its favour. The court said more than 1m female Wal-Mart employees from across the US could not proceed in their multi-billion dollar case, which accused the grocer, which owns Asda, of paying [...]
Survey reveals stagnation on the high street June 23, 2011 RETAIL sales stagnated in June, knocking hopes for growth on the British high street. Annualised sales failed to grow for the first time in a year, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) revealed yesterday. While a third of retailers reported higher sales than the same time last year, 34 per cent said that sales were [...]
New chairman Leighton signals change of Pace May 31, 2011 ALLAN Leighton, who was confirmed as the successor to Mike McTighe at the struggling TV set-top box maker Pace yesterday, is planning to launch a strategic review of the Yorkshire-based company. Leighton, who has led the boards of the Post Office and supermarket chain ASDA, said: “I’ve watched the Pace business develop with both its [...]