Tesco quarterly sales show sign of turn around following profit warning December 16, 2014 Tesco has enjoyed its best quarterly sales performance since June, according to the latest industry data, giving investors in the troubled supermarket chain some reason to cheer following last week’s profit warning. Sales fell by 2.7 per cent in the 12 weeks to 7 December, a slowdown on the 3.7 per cent decline recorded in [...]
Grocery deflation continues to tumble as Aldi and Lidl ramp up supermarket price war December 16, 2014 The supermarket sector has nudged back into growth after the surprise decline recorded last month. Figures out today from Kantar Worldpanel show that for the 12 weeks to December 7, the grocery market grew 0.1 per cent. The data company said this was down to “shoppers putting slightly more in their baskets compared with [...]
Opec ready for oil price fall to $40 a barrel: UAE December 14, 2014 Oil prices could fall as low as $40 a barrel and the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) will still refuse to cut production, according to United Arab Emirates’ energy minister Suhail Al-Mazrouei. Speaking at the Asian Business Leadership Forum (ABLF) in Dubai, Al-Mazrouei told Bloomberg: “We are not going to change our minds [...]
Union slams Ofwat decision on pricing and calls for more action December 14, 2014 Private water companies and the industry regulator Ofwat should be scrapped, according to union GMB. Ofwat’s price determination, published late last week, revealed that water bills in the UK would be reduced by five per cent over the next five years. Jonson Cox, Ofwat chairman, said: “We are bringing down bills so customers can expect [...]
Big six market share declines December 14, 2014 INDEPENDENT energy firms in the UK now account for 10 per cent of the residential dual-fuel energy market, according to new research from consultancy firm Cornwall Energy. The data shows that the big six firms accounted for 99 per cent of the market in 2011. By September 2014, this had dropped to 92 per cent, [...]
Spending on delivery grows December 14, 2014 INVESTMENT in commercial vehicles grew by 22 per cent in the last year, according to UK finance provider LDF. The firm said the value of asset finance used by businesses to fund fleets of trucks, vans and other commercial vehicles rose from £4.9bn to £5.9bn in the year to 31 October as companies realised that [...]
Which supermarket has the cheapest petrol? Supermarkets announce price cuts as oil falls December 12, 2014 Major UK supermarkets have announced cuts in the cost of petrol and diesel in response to the fall in global oil prices. The biggest discounter is Asda, which will cut 2p per litre off the price of both petrol and diesel on 13 December. Sainsbury's was the first to cut prices on 11 December, announcing a cut of [...]
London estate agent Knight Frank cuts ties with Zoopla over new website Onthemarket.com December 11, 2014 Property website Zoopla yesterday brushed off the break up of its partnership with London estate agents Knight Frank, with share price dipping by just 0.35 per cent. Knight Frank’s decision to cut ties with the online business comes ahead of a January 2015 launch of Onthemarket.com. Knight Frank is one of the founders [...]
Lending Club: Famous faces John Mack, Larry Summers and Mary Meeker at the top of US loan share firm December 11, 2014 US loan company Lending Club boasts several well-known names among its board of directors, including John “Mack the Knife” Mack and Larry Summers. Founder and chief executive Renaud Laplanche also serves as chairman. He previously founded enterprise software company TripleHop Technologies, and has won a series of awards for entrepreneurialism, as well as taking [...]
Retail reunion at Shore Cap’s Christmas lunch December 11, 2014 The who's who of the retail world trotted over to the Montague on the Gardens Hotel yesterday to share a Christmas toast (and another, and another) with Shore Capital’s retail guru Clive Black. Any airs and graces were brushed aside as each guest arrived at their table to find some sort of festive [...]