Tesco ramps up fight back against German discounters March 5, 2020 Tesco has ramped up the competition with the German discount supermarkets as it pledged to price match hundreds of products. The UK’s Big Four supermarkets – which also includes Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons – have been shedding market share to budget rivals Aldi and Lidl. Tesco, which is the UK’s largest supermarket, suffered a 0.8 [...]
Dido Harding slammed for ‘three per cent’ Test and Trace success rate November 10, 2020 Baroness Dido Harding has been slammed by MPs for the “three per cent” success rate of England’s contact tracing programme, as the Test and Trace chair faced her first formal grilling in the Commons. Health and social care committee chair Jeremy Hunt pressured Harding to explain why only “three per cent of the total theoretical [...]
Lidl ramps up expansion plan with 230 new stores November 10, 2019 Lidl’s expansion spree is set to accelerate, with the German discounter planning 230 extra store openings. The new store plan, first reported today in the Sunday Times, is the latest in a string of bullish moves from Lidl and Aldi, which have been snapping up an increasing share of the grocery market. In a bid [...]
Customers question value of clothes bundles in Edinburgh fashion firm’s Lost Stock charity venture August 12, 2020 Frustrated customers have hit out at Lost Stock, a coronavirus charity venture led by an Edinburgh-based fashion company, claiming it misled shoppers over the value and quality of items sold. Mallzee launched its Lost Stock initiative in June following reports that some high street stores had cancelled stock orders with clothing factories in Bangladesh, which [...]
Sainsbury’s Bank chairman Roger Davis steps down February 12, 2020 Sainsbury’s Bank has started a search for a new chair after Roger Davis told the board he intends to step down from the role. Davis has chaired the bank’s board for almost seven years. Sainsbury’s said the search to find Davis’s replacement had begun and that further announcements regarding the timings of his retirement and [...]
Shoppers spend extra £524m at UK supermarkets in April April 28, 2020 Shoppers spent an extra £524m at UK supermarkets during the coronavirus lockdown compared to April last year. Grocery sales soared 9.1 per cent in the 12 weeks to 19 April, which were £524m higher in the past four weeks than they were in April 2019. Households made a record low 14 trips to UK supermarkets [...]
Snakes and Ladders: Who is moving jobs in the City this week? November 25, 2020 Snakes and Ladders provides a roundup of the most important hires and job moves across the City, every Wednesday afternoon. Email citymoves@cityam.com to be featured. Firms are continuing to adapt to the challenges and opportunities presented by the pandemic as they vie to be in prime position to recover from the economic fallout of the crisis. This week, [...]
Asda considers up to 2,500 job cuts as CMA probes Sainsbury’s merger October 26, 2018 Asda has said that it will begin consultations with staff over changes that could lead to a reported loss of up to 2,500 jobs next year. The news, first reported by the Press Association, comes as the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) conducts a second stage investigation into the proposed takeover of the supermarket by [...]
Goldman-backed Neyber set to be rescued by rival Salary Finance March 1, 2020 The Goldman-Sachs backed lender Neyber will reportedly sell its assets to rival Salary Finance. Neyber is expected to appoint administrators this week, according to Sky News reports. The consumer finance provider will offload its assets including its blue-chip customer contracts to Salary Finance. Sky News sources said the deal was almost certain to happen in [...]
Competition watchdog applies further scrutiny to Sainsbury’s-Asda merger September 19, 2018 Sainsbury’s and Asda’s proposed merger will receive further scrutiny after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said concerns over the deal merit deeper investigation. The watchdog warned that the two supermarkets “overlap in hundreds of local areas”, meaning shoppers could face higher prices or worse service if the two were to merge, after its phase [...]