Morrisons follows Lidl and pledges to pay above National Living Wage September 29, 2015 Morrisons has followed in the steps of German discounter Lidl after announcing a 20 per cent pay hike for its staff in line with the new Living Wage. The supermarket, which is striving to turn itself around after years of declining sales, said more than 90,000 staff across all age brackets would benefit from a [...]
EU migrant crisis: Visa Europe donates £1m to child refugee crisis appeal as Save the Children thanks business donations September 17, 2015 Visa Europe has donated £1m to the appeal which is raising money to help child refugees in Europe as the situation reaches crisis point. The financial services company has dug deep to donate to Save the Children's Child Refugee Crisis Appeal, saying the situation needed an exceptional response. “Visa Europe has a longstanding track record of [...]
Samsung offers “free trial” of its smartphone for Apple users in new mocking ad – four tech giant ad wars we remember September 8, 2015 Samsung is offering a free “trial programme” for any Apple users considering converting to its smartphones, in its latest marketing stunt designed to poke fun at Apple. And Apple isn’t above biting back…. The South Korean tech giant has introduced a 30-day trial designed to entice iPhone users, allowing owners of the Apple smartphone to [...]
Oxford Street flagship John Lewis home unit to reopen after £14m makeover July 19, 2015 After eight months of closure and a £14m makeover, John Lewis’ home department at its flagship store is set to reopen to the public. The Oxford Street department store will open the doors to its updated home section in September, having added several new features including a “rug gallery” exclusive to the store. John Lewis [...]
Wake up and smell the coffee May 18, 2015 Yawn! Another day, another Shoreditch-based concept pop-up café. It’s enough to make you yearn for your bed. And, as luck would have it, this café is the brainchild of Swedish furniture leviathan Ikea, and the eating takes place in bed. The retailer argues it is leading a “breakfast in bed revolution”, which is replacing tables [...]
Yawn: Another concept cafe launches in Shoreditch – but this time it serves breakfast in bed May 18, 2015 Another day, another Shoreditch-based concept pop up cafe. It's enough to make you yawn and yearn for your bed. And as luck would have it, this cafe the brainchild of Swedish furniture leviathan Ikea, and the eating takes place in bed. The retailer argues it is leading a “breakfast in bed revolution” with [...]
Deanna Oppenheimer to join Tesco’s nominations committee June 17, 2015 Deanna Oppenheimer, a former high-flying banker who joined the board of Tesco three years ago, has been drafted to join the supermarket’s nominations committee next month. The appointment comes after Oppenheimer, previously the boss of Barclays UK retail and business bank, was made chairman of Tesco’s remuneration committee earlier this year. Deanna [...]
President Xi Jinping’s UK visit: How Britain can truly become China’s best partner in the West October 19, 2015 As the Queen welcomes the President of China to Buckingham Palace today for a state visit, both leaders can reflect on the significant progress made in UK-China relations. Indeed, much has changed. The Chinese economy, despite its slowdown, has grown massively in recent decades; it is eight times larger today than in 1999, when the [...]
This time it’s personal: Lida’s Matthew Heath discusses direct marketing and virtual cars September 27, 2015 In their landmark book The One to One Future, Don Peppers and Martha Rogers told marketers to "operate in realities, not abstractions of realities". But in 1993, when their book was published, neither could have foreseen how quickly their idea of personalised advertising would be realised. "That idea was ahead of its time," says [...]
Ikea’s UK sales reach £1.4bn after strong online growth November 3, 2014 Strong growth in online sales and in the children’s department have pushed Ikea’s UK sales up 11.3 per cent to £1.4bn in the last 12 months, the Scandinavian home shop announced this weekend. Web sales expanded by 26.8 per cent on the year and now make up 10 per cent of the UK arm’s sales. [...]