Marks & Spencer provokes Twitter storm with move to make Percy Pig sweets vegetarian-friendly May 1, 2019 Marks & Spencer customers have reacted with outrage to the British retailer's decision to remove gelatine from the longstanding recipe for its Percy Pig sweets. Although now suitable for vegetarians, the new recipe – introduced this month – has provoked a Twitter storm of anger, with the supermarket being condemned for altering the sweets, which it has sold since [...]
Law firm lodges equal pay claims against supermarket giant Morrisons November 13, 2018 The law firm that is taking on the big four supermarket giants over allegations of unequal pay has today lodged its first batch of claims against Morrisons in the Employment Tribunal. As well as Morrisons, Leigh Day is also taking on Asda, Sainsbury's and Tesco on behalf of female members of staff who believe they [...]
City Moves for 1 May – Who’s switching jobs at Mirriad, Discoverie Group and SCS Group? May 1, 2019 Today's City Moves includes Mirriad, Discoverie Group and SCS Group. Mirriad Mirriad, the computer vision and AI platform company, has announced abBoard change as Stephan Beringer, chief executive officer, continues his strategic refocusing of the business. John Pearson is appointed to the role of non-executive chairman, with effect from 30 April. He was previously appointed [...]
Discounters win war of the supermarkets amid sluggish Christmas growth January 8, 2019 Aldi led the way during a record-breaking Christmas for groceries, even as sales growth slowed across the sector. The supermarket increased sales by 10.4 per cent, narrowly beating fellow discounter Lidl to the top spot, figures from Kantar Worldpanel show. “The discounters have continued to make their mark over Christmas: two-thirds of all households shopped [...]
Tesco turnaround marks the milestone for Drastic Dave April 10, 2019 In the never-ending debate about executive pay, examples of failure are cited more frequently than cases of good value for money. Recently the likes of WPP, Persimmon and Ted Baker have all demonstrated how the actions of the top boss can dent the fortunes of a company and frustrate shareholders. But despairing investors now have [...]
ii view: Sales retreat at Sainsbury’s July 8, 2019 By Keith Bowman from interactive investor. Tough comparatives have impacted results for this supermarket, but that is no surprise. First quarter trading for 16 weeks to 29 June 2019 Total sales down 1.2 per cent (excluding fuel) Like-for-like sales declined 1.6 per cent (excluding fuel) Grocery sales fell 0.5 per cent General merchandise sales down 3.1 per cent [...]
Morrisons keeps income investors happy March 18, 2019 By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. After flagging another special dividend with annual results, there are opportunities for this grocer. In an eventful and turbulent period for the grocery sector, Morrisons (LSE:MRW) continues to hold its own after unveiling further robust profits growth and another special divi for investors. Today’s full-year results, despite drifting back [...]
Iceland Christmas sales fall despite furore over banned palm oil advert February 20, 2019 Iceland is set to reveal a decline in underlying sales over the festive period after its controversial Christmas advert failed to boost business. A report prepared for bondholders, obtained by the Financial Times, showed underlying sales fell by one per cent in the 16 weeks to 4 January. Read more: Iceland mulls bid for potential [...]
Walmart lowers earnings projections after online push hits profits October 16, 2018 Asda-ower Walmart lowered its earnings forecast for the financial year, after it warned online retail acquisitions would hit profits. The supermarket said its takeover of Indian e-commerce company Flipkart, the largest in the company’s history, would reduce earnings per share by 60 cents in the next financial year, and between 25 and 30 cents this [...]
Retailers and bar chains set to cash in on heatwave July 24, 2019 This week’s heat wave could prove a bonus for retailers and pub chains which have struggled this year in comparison with 2018’s glorious summer. Temperatures tomorrow could smash the UK record for the hottest day ever with the Met Office predicting the mercury could rise to a maximum of 39℃. Russ Mould, investment director at [...]