Tesco to complete £8bn sale of Thai and Malaysian units this month December 9, 2020 Tesco is set to complete the sale of its Thailand and Malaysia businesses later this month after all conditions for the deal were satisfied. The UK supermarket giant announced in March that it was going to sell the two Asian businesses to Thai conglomerate CP Group. The deal is worth £8bn. Tesco is seeking to [...]
Give our events industry the tools to save itself from Covid December 9, 2020 More than 1.5 million people are employed in the UK’s events industry and we all have one thing in common: we are problem solvers. That is what we do, day in, day out. We are logistics experts, known the world over for our technical and creative talents. We are ready to get back to work, [...]
Stephan Shakespeare: Could Mike Ashley bring in customers to save Debenhams? December 9, 2020 Customers of Mike Ashley’s Fraser’s Group are typically more likely to consider buying from struggling department store Debenhams, YouGov research has revealed. It has been a tough year for retail but Debenhams has been hit particularly hard, with several of its stores closing their doors in May. Now, liquidators have been brought in to start [...]
Sunday’s shopping surge beats Black Friday to largest shopping day of the year December 8, 2020 In what will be seen as a big boost for retailers, this past weekend has beaten Black Friday to the current crown of busiest shopping day of the year so far. This follows data released by Barlcayard Payments, which processes nearly £1 in every £3 spent in the UK, revealing that this weekend was the [...]
CMA launches probe into billionaire brothers’ takeover of Asda December 8, 2020 The UK’s competition regulator has launched its stage one probe into the billionaire Issa brothers’ takeover of supermarket Asda. Back in October the brothers, along with private equity group TDR Capital, agreed to buy the grocer from US giant Walmart for £6.8bn. At the time, Walmart said that it expected the deal to be subject [...]
Joules sales hit by lockdowns and country show cancellations, sending shares lower December 8, 2020 Sales at Joules sunk in the six months to the end of NOvember due to lockdowns and Covid-19, sending shares lower
Grocery sales on track for bumper Christmas after reaching record high in November December 8, 2020 November was the largest month ever for the UK’s grocery market as out of home socialising was restricted by a second national lockdown, figures show. Market researcher Kantar said grocery sales rose 11.3 per cent in the 12 months to 29 November and climbed 13.9 per cent year-on-year in the last four weeks. Last month [...]
National Lottery minimum age to rise to 18 amid new gambling review December 8, 2020 The government will increase the minimum age to play the National Lottery from 16 to 18 next Autumn and has launched a major review of gambling laws to make sure they are fit for the age of smartphone and in-play betting. Ministers will weigh up whether online restrictions like stake and spend limits and extra [...]
Consumer spending rises ahead of Christmas but retailers still feeling the pinch December 8, 2020 Early Christmas shopping helped boost consumer spending last month but lockdown restrictions continued to hit retailers. Spending dropped 1.9 per cent last month as restrictions took effect but spending on essential items climbed 4.9 per cent, according to the latest data from Barclaycard. Supermarkets enjoyed a 17.9 per cent rise in sales with a staggering [...]
Universal Music buys rights to more than 600 Bob Dylan songs December 7, 2020 Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) has snapped up Bob Dylan's entire catalog of songs