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The Co-op news and analysis – Page 106
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News
Co-op society boosts local sourcing with new scheme
Oxford, Swindon & Gloucester Co-op has launched a scheme to drive up the number of locally sourced products available in stores. Dubbed Local Harvest, the scheme has been launched at 20 stores with over 100 products from 11 suppliers in the...
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Inter Link Foods makes Paul Griffiths group MD
John Wood Inter Link Foods has appointed Paul Griffiths, the former chief of United Co-op's food group, as group managing director. Griffiths will take control of the management of Inter Link Foods' manufacturing and distribution...
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Somerfield lifts lid on rotisserie offer
Julian Hunt Somerfield has come up with an ingenious way of offering hot rotisserie chicken in stores without room for the traditional serveover counter. Shoppers at its store on the King's Road in London one of those testing the idea ...
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John von Spreckelsen tells Julian Hunt why he's confident he
Given there are always plenty of people predicting a rather gloomy future for Somerfield, being invited to meet with executive chairman John von Spreckelsen at World's End seemed somewhat ironic. But there were no prophets of doom to be found at the...
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Balfour to run as standalone
The Co-operative Group plans to run the newly acquired Balfour chain of stores as a standalone unit while it gets on with the task of merging former Alldays stores into the business. Co-operative Group chief operating officer Malcolm Hepworth...
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You can't live by food alone
Somerfield's results this week demonstrate how hard it is for retailers to generate strong like-for-like sales when their focus is on grocery and they have little in the way of non-food to boost top line growth. The Tradetrak figures from...
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Shares in Somerfield have almost doubled over the last quart
However Mark Hughes of Numis Securities believed the shares had peaked and would not trade any higher than 130p this year. The big loser this month was Unilever after it cut its full-year target for growth of its top 400 brands. The share price...
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The fact that the Co-operative Group paid £30m to capture Ba
Consolidation of the market has been going on for the best part of a decade with the likes of T&S Stores competing fiercely with its peers to swallow up other chains like M&W, One Stop Convenience Stores and Day & Nite. But at the end of...
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Press-round-up ... Somerfield
A new bid for Somerfield could be mounted by Gareth Jones, the former head of Abbey National’s wholesale banking division.The Times said Jones – a non-executive director of Somerfield until last August – is in discussions with two private...
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Somerfield to downsize stores
Somerfield is to focus on cost control with target cost savings of around £100m over the next three years, to be reinvested “to improve the customer offer". Chairman John von Spreckelsen was confident that the delivery of the refocused group...
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News
The Co-op buys Balfour
The Co-operative Group has bought convenience store operator Balfour for £30m from venture capital company 3i and Balfour’s senior management team.Balfour’s estate includes 76 c-stores and 35 newsagents based in southern England and had...
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Legal threat in the wash for Co-op's Pods
Mary Carmichael The Co-op has launched what it claims is a revolutionary laundry product, but under the threat of legal action. The retailer claims Powder Pods dissolvable plastic sachets of washing powder, made by Robert McBride ...
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Audas bows out of farmers co-operative group
Robert Audas, managing director of Dairy Farmers of Britain, is leaving in a restructure designed to make the business more customer-focused. Audas will quit the co-operative group at the end of the month and will not be replaced, because...
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All three shortlisted campaigns for The Grocer Gold Award fo
Following its transformation from a tired, underperforming business to a major convenience-based operation over the past five years, the Co-operative Group wanted to strengthen its brand image in the eyes of consumers. In particular, in...
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Ballymena sale
Northern Ireland Co-op has sold its 26,000 sq ft superstore in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, to SVM Properties, landlord of the Fairhill Centre where the store is located. The move is part of the Co-operative Group's retail strategy to...
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Asda has this week been named as the country's favourite sup
Shoppers were asked to rank retailers as best or second best on five key attributes: price, range, quality, service and shelf stocks. They were asked to choose between Asda, the Co-op, Kwik Save, Iceland, Marks and Spencer, Morrisons, Safeway,...
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Sir; I wholeheartedly agree with Siân Harrington's Opinion
While the last six months have seen major convenience initiatives from retailers as diverse as Tesco, M&S, BP, The Co-operative Group, Budgens and TM Retail, there is a real vacuum in supplier activity. While we know the UK convenience market is...
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Somerfield rejects new offer
Somerfield has rejected an increased offer of almost £600m for the supermarket chain from retail entrepreneurs John Lovering and Bob Mackenzie as not high enough. The pair offered £510m in April for the Bristol-based company which Somerfield...
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Asda shines in tough market
Anne Bruce Asda continues to clock up strong sales growth and grab market share from rivals, it emerged this week, while Safeway and Somerfield are struggling to make any headway in a tough sector. Wal-Mart said first quarter like-for-like...
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a round-up of the hottest recent action in FMCG
Co-op challenged n The Co-op faces a possible legal challenge from Scottish detergent company Aquados which claims the retailer's new soluble Powder Pods sachets infringe its patent. n The product has again put the Co-op ahead of category...