Calling all trendies and urbanites: Lidl’s £20m ads are aimed at YOU August 27, 2014 German discounter Lidl is gambling £20m on a new national TV advertising campaign to grab more middle-class shoppers from Tesco and Sainsbury’s. The ad, unveiled last night at the Victoria & Albert Museum, shows shoppers trying products at an East End market, only to find out that they were from Lidl. Products include Lidl’s £11.99 [...]
Why companies fail when success becomes routine October 27, 2014 The corporate landscape is littered with companies like Tesco, HP and Sony. Once business trailblazers, they have somehow become pedestrian and their performance has suffered. But why didn’t they spot the signs before their market share and profits started to slip? The simple answer is that, when firms perform well, they try to hardwire the [...]
Scottish independence: Former Sainsbury’s boss warns of higher prices if there’s a Yes vote September 12, 2014 In a fresh blow for the pro-independence campaign, the former CEO of Sainsbury's Justin King has warned Scots they will pay higher prices in the shops if they vote to abandon the union of 18 September. Speaking to the BBC's Robert Peston, King said: It is more expensive to do business in Scotland today. Business [...]
Philips needs solid numbers if he’s to see through his three-year plan – Bottom Line September 11, 2014 So you’ve had a row with your other half, and the next day, with the ensuing awkwardness still lingering, your eyes drift towards the posh chocolates in Waitrose. Combine ’em with some flowers, you reckon – chuck in a faux-sentimental card and maybe even a two-day break in Bruges – and hey presto, problem solved. [...]
Investors dump Tesco as analysts slash price December 2, 2013 TESCO shares continued their downward slump yesterday, dropping a further two per cent after HSBC downgraded its stock to “underweight” and urged the supermarket to cut profit margins to win back customers. Analysts at the bank slashed the retailer’s target price from 400p to 340p and added their voice to the swathe of brokers who [...]
London Report: Miners and Tesco drag on the FTSE December 2, 2013 WEAK miners dented top UK shares yesterday, tracking copper prices lower as traders bet on more falls for the broader market, while Tesco dropped on analyst downgrades ahead of a trading update this week. Miners shed two per cent, hit by a lower copper price as concerns over swelling supplies overshadowed improved manufacturing data from [...]
Supermarket fuel war reignites as Tesco and Asda drop prices December 17, 2013 THE SUPERMARKET fuel price war sparked off once again yesterday, after two major chains introduced new price cuts, effective from this morning. Tesco and Asda are both dropping the price of petrol by up to 2p per litre and diesel by 1p per litre. Spokespersons from Morrison’s and Sainsbury’s confirmed yesterday that they were not [...]
Travel firms take hit as Ebola fear fails to recede – London Report October 8, 2014 BRITAIN’S main equity index fell yesterday as worries about Ebola reaching Europe hurt travel firms and telecoms tester Spirent Communications became the latest UK company to warn on profits. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed 13.34 points lower, or 0.2 per cent, at 6,482.24 points, taking its fall from a 14-and-a-half–year high hit last month [...]
Asda sales ahead despite profit warning from owner Wal-mart August 14, 2014 ASDA is outperforming its leading supermarket rivals in the battle for customers’ loyalty after reporting a 0.5 per cent increase in like-for-like sales in the second quarter. The US-owned chain was the first of the big four to take action against the discounters by cutting its prices when it pledged in November to invest £1bn [...]
Ed Ballsed-up behind wheel but it’s (a) fine – and five points on his driving licence August 5, 2014 Ed Balls managed to swerve a driving ban yesterday, his lawyers racing away from Leeds magistrates with just a £1,000 fine and five points for the shadow chancellor. The charge? He failed to stop after hitting a parked car. Of course, the Labour shadow minister is walking (or, driving) a thin line – he’s already [...]