J Sainsbury outpaces rivals as it sees its market share inch higher November 9, 2010 UK SUPERMARKET sales are rising slightly more than food price inflation, with the third largest grocer J Sainsbury outpacing its major rivals, market researchers Kantar Worldpanel said yesterday. Grocery sales climbed four per cent in the 12 weeks ended 31 October, helped by a three per cent rise in inflation — little changed from the [...]
Non-food lifts J Sainsbury October 6, 2010 J SAINSBURY yesterday reported a sales rise in the second quarter as it pinned its hopes on catching Asda by rapidly expanding store space. The UK’s third largest chain behind Tesco and Asda, said non-food items were fuelling its performance. Sainsbury’s saw a 2.9 per cent like-for-like increase in sales in the period, which also [...]
Andy Clarke set to land Asda chief executive role May 6, 2010 ASDA is tipped to promote its chief operating officer, Andy Clarke, to the top job next week following chief executive Andy Bond’s decision to step aside. Clarke is understood to have been selected ahead of several internal candidates including Darren Blackhurst, Asda’s punchy trading director. Blackhurst has now resigned after five years at the Wal-Mart [...]
Asda fights poor sales with best price guarantee April 28, 2010 ASDA yesterday unveiled a money-back price guarantee after poor sales growth. The chain is offering to refund shoppers who find that a basket of comparable goods would have been cheaper at Tesco, Morrisons or Sainsbury’s. Asda increased its sales by only 2.5 per cent in the 12 weeks to 28 April, compared with rises of [...]
Clarke to become chief executive at Asda while Bond steps up to chairman May 11, 2010 CHIEF operating officer of Asda, Andy Clarke, has been appointed to the role of chief executive and president of the US-owned supermarket. His promotion follows last month’s announcement by Andy Bond that he would step up to become part-time chairman at the retailer. Clarke joined Asda in 1992 but left in 2001 for roles at [...]
ANGER OVER COST OF SNOW FIASCO December 2, 2010 THE COST to the UK economy of the mounting chaos bought by the snow and unseasonally cold temperatures could be as much as £1.2bn a day, it was claimed yesterday. As the seventh day of the cold snap saw the disruption reach the south-east of England, with more than six inches of snow falling overnight, [...]
Asda chief Bond to step down April 12, 2010 ANDY Bond is stepping down as chief executive of Asda in a shock move ahead of his unveiling of the company’s five-year plan. Bond is stepping into a new role of chairman on the board of Asda – a subsidiary of US-giant Walmart – the company said yesterday. The role will start off full-time to [...]
Morrison sales in slim rise November 4, 2010 Wm Morrison Supermarkets met forecasts with a modest rise in third-quarter underlying sales as the benefits from a small rise in food price inflation were held back by subdued consumer spending. Britain’s fourth-biggest grocer said sales at stores open over a year rose 1.3 per cent, excluding petrol and VAT sales tax, in the 13 [...]
Asda moves to beat tax rate April 11, 2010 Asda, the second largest supermarket chain in the UK, helped a number of senior executives dodge the new 50 per cent top rate of income tax by paying them a portion of their annual salary upfront in March. Asda would not confirm how many staff earning above £150,000 per year took up the opportunity. Meanwhile, [...]
Osborne gets boost from 35 top business leaders over spending cuts October 17, 2010 DOZENS of business leaders have backed George Osborne’s swingeing spending cuts, saying hesitation could cost £100bn in extra debt, more taxes and an increase in the rate of interest. A total of 35 captains of industry, including BT chief executive Ian Livingston and Asda chairman Andy Bond, penned a letter to the Daily Telegraph urging [...]