The supermarket wars are in full swing and Tesco is beefing up to fight its turf December 1, 2021 I last saw Sir Terry Leahy in 2013, two years after his messy divorce from Tesco. He agreed to a chat about retail on the condition he wouldn’t have to talk about the supermarket juggernaut he helped to create or his successor, Philip Clarke, who’d begun to question the state of the business he’d been [...]
The Manor at National Theatre: A conga line of middle class back-slapping November 26, 2021 Every couple of years the National Theatre – an institution I love in my bones – has a crack at a farcical satire of modern Britain, and every time it makes a total bollocks of it. There was 2017’s deplorable Saint George and the Dragon, an allegory so blunt it would have struggled to pierce [...]
City rumour mill grinds around possible mega private equity offer for Marks & Spencer November 22, 2021 As shoppers prepare for a black Friday spree, the bargain hunt for good value UK companies continues for private equity firms. The rumour mills are now grinding around a possible bid by Apollo Global Management for UK high street staple Marks & Spencer, sending shares 3 per cent higher in early trade. The New York-based private equity giant [...]
New York-based Apollo Global Management mulls buyout of Marks & Spencer November 22, 2021 Private equity giant Apollo Global Management is reportedly mulling a buyout of UK high street staple Marks & Spencer.
Sheepish: Waitrose to work with lamb sector after carbon footprint row November 18, 2021 The National Sheep Association (NSA) and Waitrose have agreed to work together to raise awareness of UK sheep farming’s “positive impact on the environment,” following a row. The NSA slammed supermarkets for bleating “misinformation” about lamb’s carbon footprint this week. It criticised Waitrose for recommending customers could slash their impact on the planet by eating [...]
Revealed: Amazon to open 260 supermarkets across UK as it plots to take on Tesco and Sainsbury’s directly November 17, 2021 Amazon has developed detailed plans to storm the UK supermarket sector as the e-commerce is planning to open hundreds of cashierless grocery stores across the country in the next three years. More than 260 Amazon-owned and run supermarkets are to be launched before the end of 2024, namely 60 in 2022, another 100 per year [...]
Mounting Bank of England rate hike speculation weighs on London markets November 16, 2021 Mounting speculation that strong jobs figures will coax the Bank of England into hiking interest rates next month weighed on London markets this morning. The capital’s FTSE 100 index pulled back 0.16 per cent to 7,340.28 points, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 lost 0.10 per cent to dip to 23,598.73 points. Experts are stepping up [...]
Sainsbury’s unveils Christmas ad celebrating families finally coming together November 14, 2021 Sainsbury’s festive advert ‘A Christmas to Savour’ aired for the first time this evening on ITV Networks during the Angela Black Special. The advert celebrates the enjoyment of friends and family coming together after last minute lockdown restrictions scuppered Christmas plans for many Brits last year. To encourage everyone to savour the moment this year [...]
Sainsbury’s boss: We’ll avoid worst of Christmas supply issues November 4, 2021 Supermarket Sainsbury’s said it experienced a boost to profit in its half-year results, thanks to higher grocery sales – and its CEO said it was well-placed for Christmas despite supply chain uncertainty. For the 28 weeks ended 18 September, the grocer reported underlying profit before tax of £371m, up 23 per cent versus the first [...]
Asda rolls out one-hour home delivery service across 96 stores October 8, 2021 Asda said this morning it is planning to extend its one-hour express delivery service to 96 stores following a successful trial over the summer. The service gives customers access to Asda’s full online range of more than 30,000 grocery products for delivery within the hour if they live within a three-mile radius of a store [...]