A number of publications including The Guardian are covering the latest efforts by retailers to tackle business rates. It leads this morning on a letter from 70 retailers including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and M&S to Chancellor Rachel Reeves. The story which has also been covered by The Grocer this morning reports that the retail bosses are looking for a 20% cut to the rates. Led by the BRC, they claim that retailers are paying more than their fair share by contribution 7.9% of all the UK’s business taxes despite accounting for 4.9% of the nation’s economic output last year.
Indeed lobbying from different corners of the food and drink industry received a lot of coverage over the weekend. The Guardian also reports that leading wine retailers are looking to head off new duty rules which are set to come into effect on 1 February. It says the likes of Majestic Wines, Laithwaites and Cambridge wine Merchants have launched a new campaign warning customers of the forthcoming changes claiming the price of red wines could soar by 75%. They are asking customers to raise the issue with their local MP as part of their drive to overturn the rules.
Another story garnering plenty of attention this morning is the fate of restaurant TGI Fridays. The Telegraph suggests the stricken chain could be in line for a partial rescue after Hostmore, the company that owns the rights to the brand in the UK, collapsed into administration last month. The report says that over the weekend upmarket restaurant business D&D London was closing in on a deal to buy between 50 and 55 of the 87 TGI Fridays sites. The deal would also include the UK rights to the brand and could save as many as 2,000 of the 3,000 jobs in the business.
Over the weekend The Telegraph also picked up on what it called a “torrent of one-star reviews” for Asda’s “horrible” smartphone shopping app. Asda is currently in the process of developing a new website and shopping app which it plans to launch later this year. In preparation for this it has moved iPhone users to an app which is already in lay for Android users and runs off its main website. The move has raised the ire of some shoppers however with reviews such as it “looks horrible, difficult to use and it’s just bad” and that it had “totally ruined my online shopping experience”.
The owner of international convenience giant 7-Eleven is apparently trying to ward off a second takeover bid for the company from Alimentation Couche-Tard. The Financial Times is reporting that Seven & I Holdings is looking at ways to boost its share price and thus become less vulnerable to an acquisition. It comes after rejecting an almost $39bn offer from Canadian Circle K-owner Couche-Tard last month. The FT says Seven & i is exploring the sale of non-core assets including its financial services arm and supermarket operations. The focus would then remain on drive its core convenience offer.
No comments yet