GMB accuses owner TDR Capital of mismanagement as sales at supermarket fall 6%
The GMB union has called on the owner of Asda to take “urgent action” to protect jobs amid signs the supermarket is “in a fight for survival”.
On Tuesday data revealed sales at Asda fell 6% in the three months to 4 August, despite continuing grocery price inflation, taking the retailer’s share of the UK take-home grocery market to 12.6% – the lowest level in at least 13 years.
Continue reading...After a difficult period on the high street, base rates are falling, temperatures are rising and things are looking up
It’s been a second cruel summer in a row for retailers and the hospitality business, but a more prolonged spell of warmth – and the first cut in interest rates in more than four years – may finally heat up the market, if it’s not too late.
From Argos paddling pools and outdoor furniture at garden centres to Heineken beer and Unilever’s ice-cream brands, sales have been dampened by poor weather, which has added to the pressure from high interest rates and energy bills. Sales volumes were down in June and July in the UK, according to the latest CBI distributive trades survey, with retailers expecting more falls in August.
Continue reading...Rescue deal with Tapi Carpets and Floors will still result in about 1,000 job losses
The Carpetright brand and 54 of the flooring retailer’s stores are being bought by its rival Tapi Carpets and Floors in a deal that will save 300 jobs.
The multimillion-pound deal, which is expected to be finalised on Monday, does not include Carpetright’s head office in Purfleet, Essex, or 220 further shops, and will result in about 1,000 job losses.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Several sent home for slow fruit picking face debts as watchdog investigates alleged illegal fees
Indonesian workers who paid thousands of pounds to travel to Britain and pick fruit at a farm supplying most big supermarkets have been sent home within weeks for not picking fast enough.
One of the workers said he had sold his family’s land, as well as his and his parents’ motorbikes, to cover the more than £2,000 cost of coming to Britain in May and was distressed to find himself unemployed with few possessions.
Continue reading...Revenues from technology arm, which sells robots to retailers, climbed by nearly 22% in six months to June
Shares in Ocado jumped by as much as 18% after the UK online grocer reported narrowing losses and raised its annual guidance for its technology arm, which sells warehouse robots to other retailers around the world.
Technology revenues climbed by nearly 22% year on year in the six months to 2 June, while retail revenues were also up by 11%. Ocado sells groceries in the UK through its joint venture with Marks & Spencer and was the fastest-growing grocer for the fifth month in a row based on recent sales figures, according to the data analytics company Kantar.
Continue reading...Customers left out of pocket who placed orders have now become, in effect, unsecured creditors
The administrators handling the collapse of Booktopia have announced that orders placed with Australia’s largest online bookseller will not be filled – and there may be no refunds either.
It means out of pocket customers who placed orders prior to the company entering voluntary administration have now become, in effect, unsecured creditors – which voids store credits and gift cards too.
Continue reading...Insolvency advisers are assessing the business while options for its sale or recapitalisation are explored
Booktopia has entered into voluntary administration, but will continue filling orders and selling to the public under supervision from an insolvency adviser.
Australia’s largest online bookseller announced the move on Wednesday, two weeks after it went into a voluntary suspension of share trading.
Continue reading...Pressure on household finances eases as shop price rises slow to 0.2% and petrol costs drop for second month
Britain’s next government is poised to benefit from easing pressure on household finances after a slowdown in inflation in stores and a fall in fuel prices, but costs remain “too expensive” for many families.
Figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) show that annual UK shop price inflation cooled last month to 0.2%, down from 0.6% in May – the slowest pace since October 2021 – as retailers cut the prices of many of their key products, including butter and coffee.
Continue reading...Research discovers the cost of some healthcare products fluctuates wildly, according to time of year you buy them
Dentists agree that brushing twice a day is the best way to look after your teeth. But depending on what month it is, dental hygiene can be a dramatically more expensive habit to maintain.
New research has shown that the cost of a tube of toothpaste at some times of the year can be double its price at other times. The price of other popular health products such as Gillette razors can also double depending when they are bought.
Continue reading...Hospitality outlets are being forced to evolve as cost-of-living pressures change the way cash-strapped consumers spend their money
The Sydney eatery John Montagu is known for its sandwiches.
The cafe in the harbourside suburb of Woolloomooloo has an avid following, especially among those who appreciate that it is named after the Earl of Sandwich, which may sound comical but is a bone fide noble title.
Continue reading...Return to profit will enable ‘significant investment’, including Waitrose refurbs and more convenience stores
The outgoing chair of John Lewis has insisted that the retail group is “back on track” and “more fit for the future” with an improving financial position enabling it to spend money refurbishing Waitrose supermarkets and opening convenience stores.
Sharon White, who will retire as chair of the John Lewis Partnership in September, said the upmarket Waitrose brand was “underrepresented in convenience” as it sought new avenues of growth.
Continue reading...Food 4 Less workers to vote on action if new deal is not reached, as employees say wages and benefits lag behind
About 6,000 grocery store workers are set to vote on strike action after the expiration of their union contract with the Kroger-owned Food 4 Less chain.
The contract with United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) expired on Saturday. Members are voting on whether to authorize a strike if a new deal is not reached, and results expected late on Friday.
Continue reading...Attacks on shipping leading to delays to deliveries and higher shipping costs, says retailer
The furniture retailer DFS has issued its second profit warning of the year, blaming much of the drop on delays to deliveries and higher shipping costs caused by the Red Sea crisis.
The retailer, which owns 118 shops across the UK, said it expected pre-tax profits of £10m-£12m for the year ending 30 June 2024, well down on the £20m-£25m predicted in March, amid supply chain disruption and weaker consumer demand.
Continue reading...GMB poll receives reports of workers being stabbed, punched and threatened with syringes
One in three Asda staff have been attacked at work, according to research that included reports of workers being stabbed, punched and threatened with syringes.
The poll of almost 1,000 members of GMB, one of the UK’s biggest unions, returned stories of delivery drivers being chased by people in cars, while store workers had food thrown at them. More than half (58%) of respondents said they had suffered injury or illness on the job.
Continue reading...Groups issue call to next government amid criticism of online fashion retailer’s labour practices and accusations of copying
Workers rights campaigners have called for the UK’s next government to oppose the online fashion business Shein joining the FTSE, arguing that a London listing would be “yet another betrayal to working people everywhere and the planet”.
Alena Ivanova, campaigns lead at Labour Behind the Label, said it had heard the news of senior British politicians courting Shein’s £50bn listing “with dismay” given what she claimed was a lack of transparency about its supply chain and ethical concerns.
Continue reading...Union warns of risks to shoppers and staff after Zuber Issa sells 22.5% supermarket stake to private equity co-owners TDR Capital
The billionaire brothers who part-own Asda have gone their separate ways, with Zuber Issa selling his shares in the supermarket to the private equity firm TDR Capital amid a rift between the siblings.
Zuber owned 22.5% of the Leeds-based grocery chain after a £6.8bn takeover alongside his older brother Mohsin and TDR three years ago. The sale of his stake had been expected for months, but was thought to have been complicated by lock-in agreements.
Continue reading...Small and medium-sized firms badly hit as huge drop in apparel sales helps fuel 18% slide in all-non food exports
UK exports of clothing and footwear to the EU have dived since Brexit, according to a new study that shows the extent to which complex regulations and red tape at the border have deterred firms from sending goods across the Channel.
Exports of clothing and footwear sold to EU countries have fallen from £7.4bn in 2019 to £2.7bn in 2023, helping fuel an 18% slump in sales of all non-food goods exports to countries covered by the EU single market, according to the consultancy Retail Economics and online marketplace Tradebyte.
Continue reading...Chain once prided itself on selling the cheapest fuel but RAC analysis shows it is now the dearest
Asda is now the UK’s most expensive supermarket fuel seller, research shows, after the retailer’s private owners ditched its long-held pledge to be the cheapest on the market.
The retailer, which was bought by the billionaire Issa brothers and their private equity partner TDR Capital in 2021, charged an average 2.1p a litre more for unleaded petrol than rivals Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons at the end of May, according to an analysis by the RAC motoring organisation.
Continue reading...May recorded the lowest spending growth since February 2021, Barclays’ snapshot of card activity shows
Consumer spending growth is at its weakest in more than three years as higher council tax bills and the rising cost of broadband and mobile phones eat into household budgets, a report has said.
The monthly snapshot of credit and debit card activity from Barclays found an improvement in consumer confidence as a result of falling inflation was not leading to a pickup in spending.
Continue reading...Biggest drop since November 2021 as ‘unseasonable’ weather pushes retailers to continue promotions
Shop price inflation has eased to the lowest level since November 2021 after retailers cut the price of big purchases such as furniture and TVs as households keep a tight rein on spending amid cost of living pressures and poor weather.
Prices rose at an annual rate of 0.6% in May, down from 0.8% in April – the slowest pace since November 2021 – according to the latest monitor from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) trade body and the market research firm NielsenIQ.
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