Sainsbury’s signs wholesale deal with Australia’s Coles November 11, 2019 Sainsbury’s has agreed a deal to provide Australian supermarket Coles with own-brand products as the UK grocery giant seeks to strengthen its wholesale business. The range, which will be labelled under the Coles brand, will include packaged groceries and household products. Read more: Sainsbury’s half-year profits slide Through the deal, Sainsbury’s will also analyse which [...]
Sorry We Missed You film review: Ken Loach’s attack on the gig economy feels important to watch November 1, 2019 Sorry We Missed You is the latest offering from director-slash-social-critic Ken Loach; a polemic against the false promises of the gig economy and the brutal reality of life on a zero-hours contract. Its protagonist is Ricky (Kris Hitchen), who gets a new job as a delivery driver because he wants to buy a house for [...]
Philip Hammond is mulling special ‘Amazon tax’ for online retailers to counter high street woes | City A.M. August 10, 2018 Chancellor Philip Hammond has said he is considering a new tax for online businesses in recognition of the challenges faced by high street retailers. Hammond told Sky News he believed “the nature of the offer on the high street” was changing permanently. “There’s going to be less retail, more leisure, bars, community facilities,” he said. [...]
Sport streaming: Will the trickle become a flood after the Premier League’s deal with Amazon? June 12, 2018 If the sports streaming revolution has to date just been a trickle, then deals struck between rights holders and online platforms in recent days suggest signs of a flood to come. Most notable was Amazon’s capture of a package of domestic Premier League rights last week, meaning that from the 2019-20 season English football’s top [...]
BT shares jump as it dodges Labour nationalisation December 13, 2019 Shares in BT jumped in early trading this morning as Boris Johnson’s thumping election victory staved off fears of nationalisation under Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party. BT shares spiked as much as 10 per cent to 206.8p before easing back down to an eight per cent rise as investors breathed a deep sigh of relief. Read [...]
Foxconn launches investigation into working conditions at factory used to make Amazon devices June 11, 2018 A Chinese plant that makes devices for Amazon is being investigated after an American watchdog group slammed the facility for harsh working conditions. Contract manufacturer Foxconn said yesterday it would launch an investigation into the plant. A 94-page report by China Labor Watch said bosses made staff work excessive hours, with low wages and inadequate [...]
Morrisons takes fight over data breach liability to Supreme Court November 5, 2019 Morrisons will begin its final appeal to the Supreme Court this week after losing a landmark case over the liability of employers in staff data breaches. The supermarket giant lost an initial challenge at the Court of Appeal in October last year after a judge ruled that the supermarket was legally liable for a former [...]
Napoleonic cellars and Peaky Blinders: How the old merchants of St James’s Street are fighting to stay relevant November 28, 2019 Reserved, polite and unashamedly old-fashioned, the shop-owners of St James’s Street do not offer many similarities with the brash retail bosses we so often see in the news. Unlike Mike Ashley or Sir Philip Green, they are not waging takeover wars or stirring up corporate controversies. They are cautious in their ambitions, and conservative in their tastes. But just [...]
M&S should look at a tie-up with Amazon, says former digital boss June 20, 2018 A former Marks & Spencer digital boss has said that the retailer should consider a tie-up with Amazon. Amazon has been making aggressive moves into the UK’s retail sector through its acquisition of Whole Foods and a tie-up with Morrisons. It even talked to the John Lewis Partnership about a potential takeover of Waitrose, but [...]
Sir Martin Sorrell: Post-Brexit economy should be ‘Singapore on steroids’ November 12, 2019 Advertising veteran Sir Martin Sorrell has called on the government to pursue a “Singapore on steroids” strategy for the UK economy after Brexit. The former WPP boss, who now runs digital ad firm S4 Capital, said the UK should seek to establish a free-market, pro-business economy similar to that of the Asian financial hub. Read [...]