Nightmare before Halloween? UK retailers are facing a pumpkin shortage October 9, 2015 Forget things that go bump in the night – this Halloween, retailers could face a real nightmare: a massive pumpkin shortage, with early signs suggesting wet weather could squash the hopes of thousands of British shoppers in the run-up to Halloween. An estimated 10m pumpkins are grown in the UK every year. And Sainsbury’s said it expects customers to buy almost 1.5 million pumpkins, with just [...]
Morrisons follows Lidl and pledges to pay above National Living Wage September 29, 2015 Morrisons has followed in the steps of German discounter Lidl after announcing a 20 per cent pay hike for its staff in line with the new Living Wage. The supermarket, which is striving to turn itself around after years of declining sales, said more than 90,000 staff across all age brackets would benefit from a [...]
Upbeat Brits keen to splash holiday cash July 19, 2015 Confident Brits are preparing to splash out more while on holiday this year, according to survey figures published yesterday. Of over 2,000 holidaymakers surveyed by Sainsbury’s Travel Money, 33 per cent said they were planning to spend more abroad this summer, compared to 12 per cent who said they would spend less. Travel agents had [...]
Asda backtracks on London expansion plans as it seeks to revive flagging sales October 19, 2015 Asda has become the latest supermarket to backtrack on store opening plans after scrapping ambitions to expand in London in favour of reviving deteriorating sales at existing stores. US-owned supermarket chain said it is “temporarily” slowing down the planned expansion of smaller format stores in London as well as its programme to develop more stand-alone petrol [...]
M Local selloff: Morrisons’ ill-fated attempt to build a convenience arm has become a lesson for the industry August 26, 2015 It was a cold day in February 2013 when Morrisons’ former chief executive Dalton Philips was faced with a tough decision. Film rental chain Blockbuster had just collapsed and Morrisons was one of several suitors circling a portfolio of 50 stores administrators had put up for sale. Read more: It's a deal – Morrisons [...]
Sainsbury’s needs to shore up the shop – Bottom Line October 1, 2014 In business, timing is everything, and retail moves faster than most businesses. Justin King, Sainsbury’s ex-kingpin, seems to have grasped this better than most when he sailed off into the sunset earlier this year, just as the storm clouds were gathering over the supermarket. Under King’s helm, Sainsbury’s reported a 2.1 per cent rise in [...]
Winners and losers of Living Wage campaign – The City View September 7, 2015 The problem with nuance and complexity is that they get in the way of simple government announcements. Take, as a prime example, the debate around the national minimum wage (NMW). The Low Pay Commission (LPC) was created in 1998 to offer independent advice on the NMW – precisely because politicians were deemed incapable of resisting [...]
Debenhams Croydon gets to the bottom of it September 25, 2015 Big businesses are full of sass right now. Croydon-dwellers were met with quite a treat yesterday when the self-titled “world’s grumpiest old woman” glued her posterior to the shop window of a Debenhams wearing nothing but a thong and a sash. A Debenhams spokesperson’s response was nothing short of brilliant: “It is great to [...]
Poundland’s bosses fail to get bonuses August 14, 2015 BOSSES at UK discount retailer Poundland did not receive a bonus for 2015, despite both sales and profits at the company improving last year. Poundland’s annual report said the bonus payments were “self-funding” and “as such, this year’s underlying profit after tax achievement of £33.95m did not trigger payment of bonuses to colleagues.” The company’s [...]
Fitbug rejigs balance sheet with £1.7m of funds to aid expansion August 11, 2015 HEALTH tracker Fitbug raised £1.67m from a share placing and fresh loan agreement yesterday. The penny stock, which fell 25 per cent in trading after the fundraise, generated £665,000 by placing 26.6m new shares at 2.5p. A further £350,000 worth of shares were sold to investor NW1 Investments. Fitbug also agreed an additional £650,000 convertible [...]