Supermarkets
Supermarkets examines the strategies, performance, and operational challenges facing the UK grocery retail sector. This section reports on trading results, pricing strategy, supply chain management, sustainability initiatives, and consumer trends influencing supermarket performance. Retail Sector’s Supermarkets coverage provides analysis and insight for retail leaders, buyers, and suppliers, exploring how competition, regulation, and innovation are shaping profitability and long-term growth across the grocery landscape.
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Feb- 2025 -28 February
M&S to open 20 food stores in Ireland with Applegreen
M&S will be opening 20 food stores throughout the year in Ireland with Applegreen as part of a multi-million-euro investment to further roll out their partnership. Each of the 20 new ‘shop-in-shop’ locations will undergo a “bespoke” upgrade to introduce the M&S brand, and will feature a range of more…
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27 February
ASDA improves ESG rating score
Asda has announced an improvement to its ESG rating score, following an external assessment by financial services ratings’ agency Sustainable Fitch. For the second year in a row, Asda received an entity rating of 3 (1 = excellent, 5 = poor), with the retailer’s entity score improving to 57 from 54.…
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27 February
EG Group profits surge 9% in FY24
EG Group has reported a 9% increase in EBITDA to $992m (£782.5m) in FY24 driven by significant contributions from its US and European divisions. Grocery and merchandise gross profit rose by 7% to $1.26bn (£994.1m), driven by a gross margin increase of 193bps to 31.1%. Meanwhile, foodservice gross profit was…
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27 February
Co-op launches grocery app Peckish for independent retailers
Co-op has announced the launch of its new million-pound grocery delivery app, Peckish, which offers a “technologically advanced” service to thousands of independent retailers looking to serve their customers and communities online. Following a successful trial run in 30 stores last year, Co-op has pledged an initial £1m investment for…
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27 February
Aldi in talks over head office restructuring, 350 jobs at risk
Aldi has entered a consultation over proposals to restructure some of its head office teams, with up to 350 jobs at risk.According to media reports confirmed to Retail Sector by Aldi, the changes will affect some roles within its buying departments, including non-food, finance, and some back-office functions. No customer-facing…
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25 February
Convenience stores more effective for brand-building, Co-op study finds
Convenience retail media is reportedly able to “super charge” brand recall four times more than campaigns in larger stores, due to shopper frequency and the “uniqueness” of a convenience store’s format, according to a study released by Co-op Media Network (CMN). In partnership with Lumen Research, CMN has evidenced the…
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24 February
Asda avoids penalty amid missed deadline for IT upgrade
Asda has reportedly avoided a financial penalty after its former owner Walmart agreed to move back a deadline for the supermarket to hit its £800m IT upgrade.According to The Telegraph, the supermarket missed the initial deadline for a tech overhaul that aims to separate its computer systems from those of…
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21 February
Aldi to increase store assistants’ pay from March
Aldi has announced a new pay rise for its store assistants from 1 March, with hourly rates increasing to at least £12.75, maintaining Aldi’s position as Britain’s best-paying supermarket. The new minimum rate, which increases to £14.05 within the M25, exceeds the Real Living Wage set by the Living Wage…
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21 February
Aldi to invest £67m in existing stores in 2025
Aldi has announced it is set to invest £67m in upgrading its existing stores in 2025. The UK’s fourth largest supermarket has spent almost £600m on store upgrades since 2017, and with the first phase of these updates nearly complete, Aldi is moving on to the next stage of its…
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20 February
Asda narrows median gender pay gap to 4% in 2024
Asda has reduced its median pay gap between all male and female colleagues from 5% in 2023 to 4% in 2024, according to its newly published 2024 Gender Pay figures. It also revealed that 92% of Asda’s total UK workforce consists of hourly-paid retail store colleagues, all earning the same…
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