Bumper summer and Booker buyout set to boost Tesco profits September 30, 2018 Tesco will be hoping to post strong first-half profits on Wednesday, as a blistering summer heatwave, successful World Cup run and a royal wedding are all likely to have boosted the firm’s performance. Consensus estimates compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence show that earnings before tax (excluding exceptions) could hit £795m in the first six [...]
John Lewis, Sainsbury’s, or M&S? Whose Christmas ad was best this year November 20, 2018 So this is Christmas. And what have you done? Another year over, and the festive ads just begun. Yes, ’tis the season for brands to splash the cash on fancy holiday-themed adverts in hope of attracting that sweet Christmas shopping revenue. Retailer John Lewis has been the reigning champion of the season for the past [...]
Sainsbury’s bats away criticism of new chairman Martin Scicluna July 11, 2018 Sainsbury’s yesterday defended its new chairman after he received criticsm from an investor concerned with his involvement in a botched merger when he worked for Lloyds bank. The supermarket yesterday said insurer RSA’s chairman Martin Scicluna would become non-executive chair in March 2019. Scicluna worked for Lloyds Banking Group when it bought struggling HBOS in [...]
City Moves for 1 November – who’s switching jobs at Oxx, Irwin Mitchell and Rabobank? November 1, 2018 Who’s switching jobs today? Oxx Oxx, the growth capital firm investing in B2B software companies, has appointed Daria Danilina as associate. Daria has joined Oxx with venture capital experience at Balderton and consulting experience at Bain & Company. Daria also has operational experience from her time at Dropbox, where she helped build the European sales [...]
Sainsbury’s-Asda merger will impact competition in 463 local areas, competition watchdog warns September 27, 2018 The UK competition authority today warned the mega merger between Asda and Sainsbury's could Seriously lessen competition in 463 local areas across the country. To solve the issue, the new business may have to sell off hundreds of the overlapping stores. Last week, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said its concerns around the merger were [...]
Jamie Oliver joins up with Tesco with new healthy recipe remit September 10, 2018 Chef Jamie Oliver has entered into a partnership with supermarket giant Tesco, seven years after leaving an 11-year advertising gig with rival Sainsbury's that saw him earn over £10m. The chef and best-selling author, whose fee has not been disclosed, is producing recipes and healthy eating tips for Tesco, aiming to “change eating habits”. “I’m [...]
Aldi and Lidl continue to attract customers – so what impact will Tesco’s budget chain Jack’s have? September 26, 2018 Recently Tesco unveiled its first Jack’s discount store. With a strong emphasis on Britishness and home-grown products, the brand is seen as a challenger to the German supermarkets, Aldi and Lidl. I have often talked in this column about the growth of both Aldi and Lidl, and YouGov BrandIndex data points to the continued improvements [...]
British business leaders demand ‘people’s vote’ on Brexit deal November 4, 2018 Over 70 City grandees including the former chairmen of Lloyd’s of London and Standard Chartered have joined calls for a “people’s vote” on the final Brexit deal between the UK and the European Union. Ahead of the launch of ‘Business for a People’s Vote’, a new campaign group, the group warned in a letter published [...]
Store wars: Aldi is in no mood to be Jack’s of all trades October 2, 2018 Aldi vowed to make Tesco discounter brand Jack’s a dull boy yesterday, saying it will remain the UK’s cheapest grocer. “It will be a real struggle for any more complex supermarket to successfully imitate our model let alone replicate it,” Giles Hurley, chief exec of Aldi UK and Ireland, said as he threw down the [...]
Trolley wars: Drastic Dave’s no-frills move must hit the Jackpot for shareholders September 20, 2018 Tesco took a cheap shot at budget retailers Aldi and Lidl yesterday, launching its own discounter chain, Jack’s. Chief executive Dave Lewis opened the first store in a mothballed former Tesco outlet in the small Cambridgeshire town of Chatteris yesterday, with another 10 to 15 launches in the pipeline. The chain is named after Tesco founder [...]