Steve Farrell
Steve is deputy news editor at The Grocer.
He’s responsible for covering the discounters and retail property, and for commissioning and editing The Grocer’s analysis features. He has over 20 years' experience as a journalist, during which his by line has appeared regularly in a range of national newspapers.
Contact info
- Tel:
- 01293 846613
- Email:
- steve.farrell@thegrocer.co.uk
NewsAldi to become first supermarket paying all warehouse and store workers at least £12 an hour
It follows two rises for Aldi workers last year, in January and July, as it competes with Lidl to be the UK’s highest-paying supermarket
NewsMorrisons has ‘worst compliance seen yet’ with competition rules on land deals, finds CMA
Morrisons was found to have 55 land deals that breached the rules, while M&S had 10
NewsAldi promising Christmas dinner for six for under £14
It’s £1 cheaper than Heron Foods’ – and that deal was for four people
NewsLidl and Aldi decide not to project new store numbers for 2024
After publicly targeting about 50 annually since 2017, both have already slowed estate expansion in 2023
NewsFormer M&S Food head of finance Tristan Phillips appointed Poundstretcher CEO
Phillips has been at Poundstretcher for just over a year, having moved from M&S to become the variety discounter’s finance director in autumn 2022
NewsLidl renames loaf of bread following ‘sourfaux’ complaint
The product has been renamed from Sourdough Rye Crusty Bloomer to Crusty Wheat & Rye Bloomer after a customer complained it was made with 56% wheat flour
NewsHeron Foods offering ‘market leading’ £15 Christmas dinner for second year
The frozen Christmas dinner deal, which works out at £3.75 a person, includes a turkey joint with all the trimmings
NewsPoundland boss joins BRC call for kindness to shopworkers at Christmas
Along with UKHospitality, the BRC is calling for consideration as staff work extra hard to keep shelves stocked and drinks served
NewsRegulators should ‘explore every option to claw back’ Wilko dividends, says MP
Liam Byrne made the call in the House of Commons on Thursday, after former Wilko chair Lisa Wilkinson was grilled by Business and Trade Committee earlier in the week
NewsWilko back on UK high streets as first new stores open
The stores, in Plymouth and Exeter, are the first two of five planned by CDS Superstores, which bought the brand from administrators in September
NewsAldi investing £12m in lowering prices for Christmas
Over 180 Christmas products will be lowered in price by an average 20%, according to the discounter
NewsAldi on ‘sticky wicket’ in Thatchers copycat battle
‘If Thatchers can get home on it then the floodgates will open because other brands can get home on it as well,’ said Stobbs head of litigation Geoff Steward
NewsFormer Wilko chair accused of ‘burgling a failing business’ in MP grilling
‘What is especially stark is that as the business plunged into deeper trouble, the dividends went up,’ said Business and Trade Committee chair Liam Byrne
NewsM&S ‘Team Romford’ bidding for Christmas number one again
‘Maybe This Christmas Time’ features visual merchandiser Jack Brooker singing and rapping, in a video which also showcases M&S food
NewsThe Original Factory Shop opens its 200th store
The variety discounter is on track to have opened 25 stores in the course of 2023
NewsWilko bosses to be grilled by MPs over chain’s collapse
Lisa Wilkinson, granddaughter of Wilko founder James Kemsey Wilkinson and former chair of the retailer, is among those to be questioned by the Commons’ Business and Trade Committee
NewsAldi vs Thatchers copycat battle reaches High Court
Thatchers is also gunning for Aldi’s product development process of ‘benchmarking’ against the market leader in attempting to replicate it on taste
Comment and OpinionHow the autumn statement will impact retail and fmcg
A ‘final nail in the coffin for the high street’ was the grim description from a leading property consultancy of today’s autumn statement
NewsSmall-scale trials of reusable packaging worse for environment than single-use soft plastic
A report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation looks at the environmental impact of trials of returnable and reusable containers according to the scale they achieve
NewsHigh Court gives green light for judicial review of Michael Gove’s M&S Marble Arch store decision
The decision follows a legal challenge by M&S to the levelling up secretary’s rejection of its plans to knock down the 93-year-old building