Kantar figures show Aldi and Lidl combined now account for 10 per cent of UK grocery market November 17, 2015 Budget supermarkets Aldi and Lidl now account for 10 per cent of all spend on the British grocery market for the first time since they launched in the country, new figures reveal. The two grocers have stolen market share from the more established supermarkets in a short period of time. Just three years ago, their [...]
FTSE closes up despite losses from Sainsbury – London Report November 12, 2015 FALLS in supermarket, miner and housebuilders’ shares yesterday did not prevent the FTSE 100 rising marginally. The UK’s blue-chip index rose 0.35 per cent to 6,297 points. The largest casualty, by some way, was Sainsbury, which reported profits had slumped 18 per cent and slashed its interim dividend by a third. Sainsbury’s group sales were down [...]
The nightmare before Christmas: Aldi and Lidl hammer Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco October 21, 2015 Britain's biggest supermarkets are facing a crunch Christmas as the pressure from German discounters Aldi and Lidl is ramped up, with experts warning of a bloody battle for this year’s festive season. The German duo have both seen growth rates return to over 17 per cent in the past three months, according to data from [...]
The nightmare before Christmas October 20, 2015 Aldi and Lidl hammer British supermarkets BRITAIN’S biggest supermarkets are facing a crunch Christmas as the pressure from German discounters Aldi and Lidl is ramped up, with experts warning of a bloody battle for this year’s festive season. The German duo have both seen growth rates return to over 17 per cent in the past [...]
Aldi, M&S, Waitrose and Sainsbury’s rocked by investigation revealing dire working conditions October 19, 2015 Three UK supermarket giants are launching inquiries into working conditions at fruit packaging plants and another has suspended all its orders after a Channel 4 news investigation revealed harsh conditions for migrant workers at an FW Mansfield plant in Kent. Aldi has suspended all orders from one plant. An Aldi spokesperson said: Our terms and conditions clearly state that growers [...]
Supermarket price wars: Sainsbury’s and Asda kick off new cost-cutting battle January 6, 2015 Asda and J Sainsbury fired the latest salvo yesterday in the supermarket price war, with Tesco also expected to launch a round of price cuts tomorrow as the big four battle it out to win over shoppers’ loyalty. Walmart-owned Asda pledged to spend £300m lowering prices in the first quarter of 2015 as part of [...]
Vocalink is reportedly in talks to merge with rival Sia November 5, 2015 Payments infrastructure company Vocalink is reportedly in talks for a £2bn merger with Italian counterpart Sia. According to Sky News the discussions are said to be at a preliminary stage, and could take several months before an agreement is reached. Vocalink declined to comment. VocaLink runs the Faster Payments Service and BACs which handle trillions [...]
Christmas adverts 2015: What retailers must do to rival John Lewis when it comes to winning consumers’ hearts and minds November 3, 2015 People around the country celebrate (or lament) the fact that Christmas seems to be starting earlier with each passing year. Fairylights adorn high streets, the newest children’s toys fill up shop windows and festive sandwich flavours pop up in supermarkets, often before the Halloween decorations have even come down. Love it or hate it, there’s [...]
Sainsbury’s counts the cost of supermarket price war November 8, 2015 Sainsbury's is expected to unveil a near 25 per cent slide in first half underlying profits on Wednesday, as efforts to compete with rivals and stay ahead in the supermarket price war hurt margins. Analysts at Barclays expect margins to fall by 60 basis points to 2.5 per cent and underlying profit before tax to decline by [...]
Homeward bound HSBC, City Hall race and oil glut make a busy 2016 January 7, 2016 Forecasting events in the City is frequently a fool’s errand but one thing’s clear from the first week of 2016: it is going to be a tough year for much of corporate Britain. Here’s where I think most of the action will be. 1. Among the first big decisions of the year will be delivered when [...]