After an explosion of apps and billion dollar valuations, is the ultra-fast bubble about to burst? April 1, 2022 Any Londoner on a stroll down a main road in the city is bound to encounter a handful of instant grocery delivery riders zipping past. With Getir, Gorillas and Gopuff among other players on the scene, the category has exploded over the past couple of years with some receiving billion-dollar valuations. The pandemic saw many [...]
Bidding war for Morrisons heats up as US private equity giant makes £7bn move August 20, 2021 A fresh £7bn bid for supermarket chain Morrisons has been put forward by US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R). The deal has been unanimously accepted by the board of the grocer and directors have said shareholders should vote in favour of the takeover at a meeting due in early October. It means [...]
The Coward’s way out: Loungewear to keep it classy November 30, 2021 The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and the switch to home working by large swathes of the employed population had a distinct knock-on effect on clothing. Suits and smart jackets were out—some of us are fighting a rearguard action to revive them—and suddenly everyone cast aside any remaining shame and championed their loungewear. The pressure [...]
Asda beats competitors to become fastest growing Big Four supermarket for first time in more than two years April 27, 2021 Asda beat its competitors to become the fastest growing of the biggest UK supermarkets for the first time in more than two years as consumers ventured further for their food shopping. The latest data showed Asda, which was recently sold by US retail giant Walmart to the Issa brothers and TDR Capital, increased its market [...]
Ocado deploys lorry drivers to help with national shortage as more names ask government for help July 7, 2021 Ocado has had to deploy some of its own lorry drivers to help its suppliers get stock to its warehouses amid a national shortage of lorry drivers. CEO Tim Steiner told trade magazine The Grocer that Ocado itself was handling the ongoing driver shortage well, but that some of its suppliers were struggling. “We are [...]
Shell chair Andrew Mackenzie tapped to lead UK innovation agency June 8, 2021 The chairman of Royal Dutch Shell has been appointed to lead a government science agency charged with ramping up the UK’s innovation credentials after Brexit. Sir Andrew Mackenzie has be named as the preferred candidate to chair UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), which has an annual budget of almost £8bn. His nomination has been signed [...]
Pod Point hires Bank of America to help with float plan – report April 7, 2021 Electric vehicle charging firm Pod Point has reportedly brought on Bank of America to work on a potential stock market float. According to Sky News, the firm could go public at some point this year, with Bank of America working together with Barclays on the deal. Pod Point is majority owned by French energy giant [...]
Aldi and Lidl sales growth slows as discounters struggle to compete with Big Four’s online capabilities March 2, 2021 The growth of the discount supermarkets Lidl and Aldi has slowed as the Big Four UK grocers benefitted from their more established online presence during the pandemic. German budget grocers Lidl and Aldi reported that sales were up 10.9 per cent and 5.6 per cent respectively in the 12 weeks to 21 February. However, three [...]
Labour shortages make light work of fears of a post-Brexit unemployment surge – CityAM : CityAM September 1, 2021 In the two decades before the Brexit referendum, there was a large increase in the number of people moving from the EU to the UK. In the mid-1990s there were less than one million EU citizens living in the UK. By the mid-2010s, this had risen to 3.6 million. The bulk of the increase came [...]
Heathrow calls for green list expansion as passenger numbers sink by 92 per cent May 11, 2021 Heathrow Airport has called for an expansion to the travel green list in the next government review in three weeks’ time, including the United States, to boost trade and reunite friends and family. The number of passengers passing through Heathrow Airport was down by 92.1 per cent in April, compared to pre-pandemic figures. After the [...]