Sainsbury’s should focus on its core offer January 6, 2016 Sainsbury's and Home Retail Group do not at first glance appear obvious bedfellows. If perceptions count for anything, and they do in retail, then Sainsbury’s is very much a supermarket that attempts to cater for the British middle class. Home Retail Group’s Argos doesn’t. But for both the high street and supermarkets, these are desperate [...]
Philip Clarke just left Tesco – again March 25, 2015 Eh up. Anyone got a sense of deja vu? Tesco has announced chief executive Philip Clarke had decided to step down, retiring after 40 years in the job. The revelation left supermarket-watchers confused – surely Clarke has already departed, to be replaced by former Unilever man "call me Dave" Lewis? Clarke left the supermarket under a [...]
MPC minutes to be released as Tesco is set for annual report – London Report April 19, 2015 THE BANK of England’s monetary policy committee (MPC) will publish the minutes of its last rate setting meeting on Wednesday. The notes are expected to reveal officials’ thoughts on the strength of sterling and whether low inflation expectations will feed into the April wage negotiations. Traders will also be keeping a close eye on the [...]
Virgin Money announces two new appointments to senior executive team, with Peter Bole to join as chief financial officer and Hugh Chater to take on the role of chief commercial officer January 12, 2016 Challenger bank Virgin Money has appointed former Tesco Bank finance chief Peter Bole as its new chief financial officer. In a statement today, the bank said he will join in 2017. Read more: Virgin Money replaces KPMG with PwC as auditors Glen Moreno, chairman of Virgin Money, said Bole is "an accomplished professional with first-class strategic financial management experience. "I [...]
Tesco share price falls as Fitch downgrades its long-term rating April 24, 2015 Credit ratings agency Fitch has downgraded Tesco's long-term rating to BB+, from BBB-. Shares in the supermarket were down 1.1 per cent to 222.6p in mid-afternoon traading after the ratings giant said its decision reflected a "weakening outlook for the group's near term profitability in its core UK operations". The news comes days after Tesco [...]
Black Friday 2015 UK: John Lewis staff banned from using discounts on sales items November 27, 2015 John Lewis has banned employees from using their staff discounts on its Black Friday promotions online. Although staff are allowed to make use of their partner discount – 12 per cent off electricals and 25 per cent on other goods – in store, they have been blocked from using it online. The department store told This [...]
Tesco: Here’s what the City and analysts are saying about record annual losses April 22, 2015 As the details of Tesco's losses and its turnaround plans sink in around the City, here's the initial take from analysts, business experts and even the man funding shareholder litigation against Tesco over the profit overstatement last year that triggered it all. Louise Cooper, CooperCity – "Tesco is like Miliband – it has two kitchen [...]
Valentine’s Day 2016: Morrisons is selling oysters for 25p each ahead of Valentine’s Day – the same price as a Cadbury Freddo February 8, 2016 Lidl may be famous for its champagne, but one of the big four supermarkets appears to be fighting the competition by slashing the price of oysters ahead of Valentine's Day this year. Morrisons is to sell fresh British oysters for just 25p each – the price of an average Cadbury Freddo in a move to try to outshine its [...]
Tesco: The decline and fall of the supermarket giant and its share price in one chart April 22, 2015 The business world is reacting to the news that Tesco has racked up a £6.38bn loss – one of the biggest losses ever made by a UK company. The beleaguered supermarket’s pre-tax losses for the year are even higher than the £5bn markets had been expecting. There was also a big hit from the writedown of [...]
FTSE 100 weighed down by record £6.4bn Tesco loss April 22, 2015 The largest full-year loss ever felt by a British retailer unsurprisingly made a dent on the FTSE 100 on Wednesday, as shares in Tesco fell by 5.5 per cent. The embattled supermarket was the biggest faller on the FTSE after reporting an annual loss of £6.4bn – a "difficult year" in the words of chief [...]