Sainsbury’s hires former Boots boss as retail and operations director September 30, 2016 Supermarket Sainsbury's has hired a veteran of the UK retail sector as its new retail and operations director. The company has appointed former Boots managing director Simon Roberts to the role. Roberts was most recently executive vice president of pharmaceutical retailer Walgreens Boots Alliance and president of Boots in the UK & Ireland. Prior to that, [...]
Amazon expands Pantry online supermarket as it lays out fresh challenge to UK’s Big Four supermarkets Asda, Tesco, Sainbury’s and Morrisons December 29, 2015 Amazon’s foray into the supermarket sector has quickly become a success, after the online retail giant announced plans to expand its new Pantry service in the UK next year. In other words, there's more disruption ahead for the UK’s troubled traditional supermarkets. The “Big Four” – Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons – are struggling to keep up [...]
Utilitywise share price buzzes on double-digit turnover and 97 per cent cut to net debt October 18, 2016 Shares in utility cost management consultancy Utilitywise rose this morning after the company posted double-digit revenue growth and announced the appointment of a new chief financial officer. The figures Revenue at the group rose 22 per cent to £84.4m in the year to 31 July, up from £69.1m in 2015. Profit before tax grew by seven per [...]
Morrisons is feeling pretty chill about #Marmitegate, saying price rises will be “minimal” March 9, 2017 The chairman of Morrisons supermarket has reassured shoppers that he will be minimising any price rises on groceries following the Brexit vote. The price of a grocery basket became a source of controversy last year when Unilever demanded higher prices from supermarkets, but Tesco refused – leading to a stand-off that became known as #Marmitegate. But [...]
Supermarket sales grew at their fastest rate since June 2014 in the last 12 weeks March 7, 2017 Supermarket sales were growing at their fastest rate since June 2014 over the past three months as inflation started to bump up prices for key items such as tea, butter and fish. According to data from Kantar Worldpanel, supermarket sales grew by 2.3 per cent year-on-year for the 12 weeks ending 26 February. Kantar said [...]
Mastercard and Visa see UK legal claims from high street names mount over interchange fees June 25, 2017 MASTERCARD and Visa are facing legal claims that could top £1bn as a raft of high street names pool their resources in a battle with the credit card giants over fees. At the start of this month, litigation claims were launched by 27 high-street retailers, supermarkets, pubs and bookmakers over “multilateral interchange fees”, or charges [...]
Asda is turning friend against friend with this saucy ketchup poll February 8, 2017 Remember that time #thedress caused rifts in families, turned friends against each other and generally broke the internet? Now Asda has done it again, causing a condiment conundrum by asking one simple question: do you keep your ketchup in the fridge? Yesterday the supermarket said one of its stores had begun experimenting with storing ketchup in both [...]
Tesco has formed a strategic alliance with French supermarket chain Carrefour to enhance competition July 2, 2018 Tesco and Carrefour are teaming up to beat the competition, in a strategic alliance announced this morning. A joint statement issued by the companies say the alliance will cover their relationships with global suppliers, its joint purchasing of all own-brand products, and any goods not for resale. The deal should force prices for own-brand products [...]
Aldi just became the UK’s fifth largest grocer February 7, 2017 Aldi has become the UK's fifth largest grocer by market share, overtaking the Co-op. According to data from Kantar Worldpanel, Aldi grew its sales by 12.4 per cent in the 12 weeks ending 29 January. Its share of the market now stands at 6.2 per cent. Read more: A Lidl competition: Aldi becomes the highest-paying supermarket in the UK [...]
Oil prices: UK supermarkets Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s in petrol price war as they match crude oil price decline September 24, 2015 The UK’s supermarkets kicked off yet another price war yesterday, with Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s all slashing petrol prices by up to 2p per litre (ppl). Morrisons, which has 336 petrol stations in the UK, announced that it was making its third petrol price cut in four weeks. “The falling wholesale price of [...]