London Report: Retailer data to reveal strength of UK recovery September 7, 2014 THE NEWLY-MERGED Dixons Carphone will report its maiden quarterly results tomorrow in a week containing a flurry of updates for retailers. Figures for the company, whose merger only completed a month ago, will be keenly watched by investors, who will be hoping the firm’s planned synergies are starting to take effect. Other retailers due to [...]
Morrisons ramps up assault on rival supermarkets after slashing more prices June 23, 2014 Morrisons has launched a fresh round of price cuts today as the troubled supermarket group steps up its efforts to win back shoppers defecting to cheaper rivals. Britain’s fourth-largest grocer will cut the price of a further 135 grocery and household products today by an average 14 per cent. “These are permanent price cuts, not [...]
Amazon’s lockers arrive in London Tube station car parks June 25, 2014 Amazon has introduced new lockers at Finchley Central and Newbury Park tube station car parks in a partnership between the online retail giant and Transport for London that will let customers collect their purchases at the lockers – like they can do in some Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s car parks. Amazon has lockers in over [...]
Tesco says £1bn plan on track as troubles mount December 4, 2013 TESCO boss Philip Clarke insisted yesterday that his £1bn investment plan to turn the retailer around was “firmly on track” despite posting a slump in trading across all of its markets. UK like-for-like sales fell 1.5 per cent in the third quarter to 23 November compared with flat sales in the second quarter and in [...]
Analyst Views: Is Tesco’s management pursuing the right strategy? December 4, 2013 JAMES GRZINIC | JEFFERIESTesco’s update confirmed not only the significant headwinds the group has had to contend with, but also the shape of a measured profit recovery in the coming year. We are encouraged by management’s clear rebuttal of a need for a UK profit rebasing, to us this would be an unnecessary profit sacrifice. [...]
London Report: Bank policy and property fears weigh on FTSE September 25, 2014 Britain’s FTSE 100 fell yesterday to a six-week low as concern that Britain and the United States would soon tighten monetary policy pulled down mining and energy stocks, as well as companies exposed to the UK property market. Shares in basic materials and energy companies knocked a combined 35 points off the FTSE 100, which [...]
Tesco hit by broker claims that prices rising faster than rivals December 10, 2013 TESCO’S share price faltered yesterday after the group suffered another downgrade from a major broker amid concerns that it has lost its differentiation with its rivals. In a damning note published yesterday, Bernstein analysts said that Tesco has raised prices faster than any of its supermarket competitors since 2010, losing its value credentials along the [...]
Bottom Line: A shift at Tesco could change the whole market December 2, 2013 TESCO wasn’t the only supermarket moving downwards yesterday. As shares in the UK’s biggest grocer continued their downward trend, fellow retailers Sainsbury’s and Morrisons dipped in sympathy – despite the former recently topping profit forecasts and outshining its competitors. So why all the discontent in the aisles? HSBC’s note on Tesco yesterday, in which it [...]
Lidl clothing range: Discount retailer challenges British supermarkets on fashion front August 20, 2014 Not content with challenging big British supermarkets on food prices, discount favourite Lidl is taking the stores on in the fashion stakes. The German retailer is about to launch a fashion range for women that includes jeans, shoes and even leather jackets, with a men's range to follow later this year. From August 25th shoppers [...]
LiteBulb Group’s Simon McGivern and James Phillips talk Mary Berry, cashpoint encounters and woodwork January 18, 2015 It's not every day that you bump into an old friend at a cash machine in Fulham and end up hatching a business – but then Simon McGivern and James Phillips, the founders of LiteBulb Group, are not your average pair. They went to school together (although they didn’t know each other very well) and [...]