3 ways Morrisons will change your supermarket March 13, 2014 Morrisons’ extensive and rapid loss last year, and its foreseeable future profit warning, perhaps put it ahead of other supermarkets in terms of how quickly it needs to change. But the changes it needs and is planning to make affect all mainstream supermarkets. Indeed, the shares of all of them have lost this morning on [...]
Tesco retreats as Clarke puts the brakes on February 25, 2014 Supermarket pulls out of the space race with plans to slash spending and cut prices TESCO’S chief executive pledged yesterday to put the brakes on its UK expansion and spend £200m slashing prices as Britain’s biggest grocer seeks to revive sales and win back falling market share. Speaking at an investor conference, Philip Clarke laid [...]
How to be the envy of the golf club April 7, 2014 The new Mercedes C-Class has finally emerged from the shadow of its big brother, the S-Class THE battle for golf club car park supremacy remains alive and well. And this year, to trump your fellow members, you’re going to have to get one of these: the new Mercedes-Benz C-Class. It’s that simple. Emerging from the [...]
2014 brings bad news for Britain’s supermarkets January 9, 2014 Tesco has announced a disappointing set of results for the Christmas and New Year period. In the UK like-for-like sales were down 2.4 per in the six weeks to 4 January. Group sales for the period fell by 1.2 per cent. Chief executive Philip Clarke commented: We continued to invest in the most compelling offer [...]
Mutuals will stay high street bit players for many Christmases yet December 17, 2013 MUTUALS and co-operatives have been promoted as the acceptable side of business by both arms of the coalition. Nick Clegg has lauded the Waitrose and John Lewis model. Advisers to David Cameron, as well as Vince Cable, have argued that the banking sector would be more stable if more companies followed the mutual model. But [...]
Apple falls out of favour with UK consumers January 15, 2014 Apple has fallen out of favour with UK consumers, losing its coveted spot as one of the UK’s top 10 brands. Last year Apple’s iPad held the No 6 slot on YouGov’s BrandIndex report, but this year the technology giant is nowhere to be found. UK Top Brands 1. BBC iPlayer (no change)2. John Lewis [...]
UK retail sales increase at strongest rate since February 2010 in December January 17, 2014 Christmas was a pretty mixed bag for some retailers, but figures from the Office for National Statistics suggest that the squeeze on consumers is easing, and they were able to make the most of bargain and discount shopping. December retail sales jumped 5.3 per cent from a year earlier, up 2.6 per cent in the [...]
These festive victors have found a way of winning online and in store January 16, 2014 Argos, Primark, Halfords, Homebase, Dixons and Ocado: the raft companies who saw sales leap over the Christmas period, and present a stark contrast to the big names (M&S, Tesco and Morrisons) that reported gloomy – and sometimes grim – results last week. It's become something of a cliche to keep emphasising the need for transition [...]
Bottom Line: Despite the convenience boom, UK grocers are still thinking big December 8, 2013 IF YOU need reminding of the grocery sector’s continuing ambition, all you have to do is step outside your office to the nearest supermarket convenience store. These compact ventures have sprung up across city centres, going from 2,000 branches in 1998 to 14,000 and climbing today, a rate of increase that may seem to put [...]
Maidstone Mums: The new Holy Grail December 1, 2013 RONNY Gottschlich, managing director of Lidl UK, described the discount retailer’s growing number of core shoppers as Maidstone Mums. “The Maidstone Mum is someone who probably previously would have thought, I can’t be seen in a Lidl store. Those Maidstone Mums are no longer afraid of being seen in a Lidl store,” he said. But [...]