Holland & Barrett parent, NBTY Europe, has announced it will adopt 100% renewable biomass energy throughout the health food chain’s 700 UK store estate. As part of the company’s ‘Plan It Green’ initiative, Holland & Barrett will use Haven Power to supply electricity generated from biomass, a form of stored solar energy. Biomass, which is produced from [...]
McDonald’s has installed Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) from Trend Controls across 1,100 of its UK restaurants to reduce costs and help make it one of the world’s most sustainable quick service restaurant chains. Since it was founded in 1954, McDonald’s has grown from a family burger stand to one of the world’s most recognisable restaurant [...]
Retail traffic counter and analyser, ShopperTrak, has formed a global business unit to address the needs of shopping mall developers and centre owners. Todd Starcevich, ShopperTrak’s chief executive officer of Europe and the Middle East, will return to the company’s corporate headquarters in Chicago to lead this team. The new business unit will be responsible [...]
Fashion retailer LK Bennett has appointed Sarah Thornley as merchandising director, based at the company’s headquarters in London’s Cavendish Square. Thornley was previously at Burberry for 13 years, most recently as global director of merchandise for online and director of merchandise for Europe. Prior to this Sarah worked at luxury multi-brand and department store Harvey [...]
Spar International has reported a 2.8% increase in worldwide retail sales to €32bn in 2012. Spar now has retail operations in 34 countries and its global partnership encompasses 12,322 stores. Spar will have retail operations in 36 countries when the first Spar supermarkets open in Qatar and Lebanon later this year. Speaking at the 58th [...]
Now Mobile, a leading mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) specialising in international calling and low cost pre-paid mobile solutions, has signed a national sales agreement with Tesco. The distribution agreement will see Now Mobile SIMs made available across the UK in selected Tesco stores, as well as online. The deal is the next step in a [...]
The Co-operative’s own-brand vintage Champagne has scooped its second major accolade in a week after winning Gold at the Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA). The win means the convenience retailer’s own brand Les Pionniers Vintage 2004 Champagne has beaten competition from top-drawer Champagnes and rival retailers at the world’s two most influential wine awards, after it also potted Gold at the [...]
David Grossman has been appointed CEO of BT Expedite & Fresca, BT’s multi-channel retail specialist business. Grossman has worked at BT for seven years, running a consumer mobile business and most recently as chief executive of BT Directories. Before BT he worked for AOL where he headed a strategic partnership and business development team across [...]
Employees from Spar wholesaler AF Blakemore dug out their gardening gloves and got green-fingered on 15 May 2013 to take part in Give and Gain Day 2013. The team, consisting of employees from both the Talbot Green and Tipton depots, got their tools ready and set to work to create a sensory garden for the [...]
The Skills Show, the UK’s leading skills and careers event, has recruited Gail Cohen to the newly created role of director of marketing, content and commercial development. Formerly the director of marketing, communications and audiences at the British Film Institute (BFI), she will oversee a new directorate within the organisation which draws together all the elements of [...]
Europe’s fast moving consumer goods industry faces a bright future despite the current economic difficulties. That was the upbeat verdict of business leaders speaking at the ECR Europe annual conference in Brussels this week (14-15 May 2013). More than 600 delegates from over 30 countries – including as far a field as Singapore, Brazil, Canada and [...]
Apple juice made from some of the rarest apples trees in Britain is to go on sale at The Co-operative Food. Some of the trees date back to pre-Victorian times, including one identical to the apple tree made famous by Sir Isaac Newton, when he discovered gravity. Others have long-forgotten names such as Duck’s Bill, Bloody Ploughman, [...]
A new online business guide to help businesses in the retail sector survive a potential disaster has been launched by a leading UK cloud and IT service provider. Managing costly power outages, IT failure, flooding and even terrorism are some of the potentially damaging scenarios examined in the Would Your Business Survive? study produced by InTechnology. Designed to [...]
The Co-operative’s own brand Champagne has scooped Gold medals at the International Wine Challenge 2013, beating top class Champagnes from leading brands and rival retailers. The community-based retailer’s own brand Les Pionniers Vintage 2004 Champagne collected Gold for the third year running, while The Co-operative’s Les Pionniers NV Champagne also picked up Gold. Both Champagnes, named after [...]
John Lewis has announced plans to recruit more than 100 apprentices for its 2013/2014 Retail Apprenticeship programme, and launch a Technology Apprenticeship aimed at training the next generation of IT and systems leaders in the business. Now in its second year, the one-year retail scheme focuses on young people and guarantees that everyone who successfully [...]