Hobbs bags £14m of new investment from backer 3i January 12, 2011 FASHION retailer Hobbs has received a new £14m investment from 3i, its majority shareholder, and appointed former Maximuscle chairman Iain MacRitchie as its new chair. The retailer said that total sales since February 2010 have increased by 12 per cent. The move will also see former Asda executive Tony Campbell step down from Hobbs after [...]
Morrisons sees slim Xmas lift January 10, 2011 WM MORRISON Supermarkets posted a modest rise in Christmas sales yesterday, held back by disruption from severe weather and a tough consumer backdrop. Britain’s fourth-biggest grocer behind market leaders Tesco, Asda and J Sainsbury said sales at stores open at least a year rose one per cent, excluding fuel and VAT, in the six weeks [...]
Asda May 27, 2010 GET ready to slap the change in your back-pocket and shout “that’s Asda Price”: Britain’s number two supermarket has been on a spending spree. At first glance, the £778m that Asda has shelled out for 193 Netto stores looks pricey. The Wal-Mart subsidiary is paying £504 per square foot, mostly for units that are in [...]
Tesco and Sainsbury’s boost UK market share January 9, 2011 THREE of the UK’s big four supermarket chains are reporting Christmas figures this week, with analysts expecting Tesco and J Sainsbury to have boosted their market share. Research company Kantar suggests that Sainsbury’s advanced its share of the British grocery market by 0.3 per cent to 16.4 per cent while Tesco saw a lift of [...]
What the other papers say this morning January 9, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES GOLDMAN TEAM RAISES MONEY FOR NEW FUND The last big proprietary trading team at Goldman Sachs has begun raising money to start a new hedge fund independent of the bank, for launch in the second quarter of this year. The team – led by two senior members of Goldman Sachs’ Principal Strategies desk, [...]
Leading firms to pledge jobs January 9, 2011 TOP British business leaders will today pledge to create thousands of jobs in the UK. The heads of leading British firms will meet today with Prime Minister David Cameron at Downing Street to discuss job creation in the private sector. Representatives from supermarket giants Asda, J Sainsbury, Tesco and Wm Morrison will join Marks and [...]
Retailers hit back over BBC claims December 22, 2010 THE British Retail Consortium (BRC) has branded a withering attack on supermarket expansion broadcast on the BBC’s Panorama last night as “misleading”. Programme makers indicate that the UK’s major grocers are growing more quickly than ever, suggesting that one of Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons effectively gets planning permission for a new store “every working [...]
Asda buys UK Netto stores May 27, 2010 ASDA has bought the Netto supermaket chain in the UK for £778m. Netto has 193 stores, which will be converted to small Asda stores by next Summer, if regulators give the go-ahead. Asda plans to employ up to twice as many staff in each of the stores it has acquired. It sees the move as [...]
Sainsbury’s sees record festive sales January 12, 2011 J SAINSBURY reported its best ever Christmas sales as customers splashed out on more expensive ranges over the festive period. The supermarket group, which this month overtook Asda as the second largest supermarket in the four week run-up to Christmas, said in a trading statement yesterday that like-for like sales for the 14 weeks to [...]
Asda takes over Netto in £778m deal May 27, 2010 ASDA has bought the Netto supermarket chain in the UK for £778m. Netto has 193 stores, which will be converted to small Asda stores by next Summer, if regulators give the deal the go-ahead. Asda plans to employ up to twice as many staff in each of the stores it has acquired. It sees the [...]