Ultimo’s Michelle Mone on Scottish independence: Alex Salmond is “encouraging hate” and “splitting this country” September 16, 2014 Lingerie queen and fervent Better Together campaigner Michelle Mone said speaking out against independence had led to threats against her which were “off the scale and getting worse”. She told City A.M.: “People are threatening me, saying all sorts of things about coming to my house, physical violence and just really nasty stuff.” Mone, raised [...]
Samsung’s #Selfie4England backfires June 19, 2014 There is a long, rich and humorous history of hashtags backfiring on corporates but it doesn’t seem to stop them – step forward Samsung, who has been running the #Selfie4England since England’s first game last week. Let’s just say it’s been going wrong almost as much as right. A quick scan of the [...]
Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons: Have investors given up on supermarkets? October 1, 2014 Tesco's share price has fallen 3.4 per cent today. Wm Morrison's has declined by 5 per cent. Sainsbury's share price tumbled 6.6 per cent. Although they operate in the same sector, each of these three supermarkets is suffering its own problem. So what is happening? Tesco's well documented £250m black hole in its [...]
Morrisons fights back as Tesco’s sales get worse August 27, 2014 The challenges facing Tesco incoming boss Dave Lewis were further laid bare yesterday after figures out yesterday showed a worsening sales performance at Britain’s largest grocer. According to data from Kantar Worldpanel, Tesco’s sales declined by four per cent year-on-year in the 12 weeks to 17 August. This means its market share fell to 28.8 [...]
Waitrose and discounters thriving September 24, 2013 DISCOUNT supermarket Aldi saw year-on-year sales growth of a record 32.7 per cent in the 12 weeks to 15 September, according to new industry data, as upmarket rival Waitrose also upped market share. Waitrose achieved growth of 9.7 per cent year-on-year, Kantar Worldpanel said, well above market growth of 4.2 per cent. But Tesco, which [...]
Brand Index: Discounters’ customers force top shops to up their game July 16, 2014 For consumers, every little helps, and the tills at Aldi and Lidl are ringing as the German discounters attract new and unlikely customers. YouGov’s mid-year BrandIndex’s Buzz rankings show that Aldi tops the list with Lidl coming in fourth, as consumers keep buying habits forged in the downturn. In our Buzz Metric, a measure of [...]
LondonMetric returns to profit June 3, 2014 LondonMetric reported a leap in full-year profits yesterday thanks to a surge in the value of its portfolio and a revival in the property market beyond south east England. The group, which buys and develops distribution warehouses for retailers such as Waitrose, said profits rose to £125.3m in the year to 31 March from a [...]
And the nominees are… September 7, 2014 TOMORROW: ACCOUNTANCY FIRM OF THE YEAR ALDI The German discounter has taken the British high street by storm. Aldi now has a 4.6 per cent share of the UK market, up more than one third in a year due to consumers choosing its quality and low prices over the more established retailers. It has even [...]
Analysts to the fore in big sectorial shakeups September 9, 2014 ANALYST of the year The role of the analyst has become increasingly important at such an uncertain time in the economy, when everyone is looking for guidance. With the UK retail sector in turmoil over the decline of Sainsbury’s, Morrison’s, Waitrose and especially Tesco – caused mainly by the rise of the German discounters – their views [...]
The financial A to Z of Scottish independence – CNBC Comment September 15, 2014 A new, independent Scotland might flummox a foreign visitor. So it’s lucky this financial A to Z has turned up – even if some say it’s a parody of the Better Together campaign. A: Alex – Scotland’s official unit of currency, though largely superseded by an informal bartering system, where one barrel of oil [...]