Retail Round-up: 19th November

Retail Week - Marc Bolland to take the lead at M&S
Following months of speculation it has been announced that Marc Bolland, Morrisons CEO, is to take the reins at M&S next year. Rose will remain with the company until 2011 to allow for a seamless transition. Bolland’s success in turning Morrisons around since he joined in 2006 has won him great accolade. He is looking forward to achieving further success with M&S.more

Retail Week - ITV looks to ex-Asda boss to turn things around
Archie Norman, former Asda CEO, known for his success in making Asda the success that it is today and turning the brand around, has been named as the next Chairman of ITV, replacing Michael Grade. The announcement marks the end of a long search and the beginning of his climb to overcome the challenges at ITV.more

Retail Week - Supermarket banks dealt a blow by Barclays
Antony Jenkins, Head of Retail Banking at Barclays, has spoken out against those supermarkets setting up their own retail banks. While he accepts that the likes of Tesco and Sainsbury’s have been very successful in the grocery division, he feels that they underestimate the reality and challenges in running a bank and are merely taking advantage of the unsettled financial services environment.more

The Grocer - Children’s food producers under fire
A new Which? Report has criticised Robinsons, Dairylea and Kellogg’s for the levels of sugar and salt in some of their lunchbox products. Under particular scrutiny were Robinsons’ Fruit Shoot orange drink (23 grams of sugar in 200ml), Dairylea lunchables Ham ‘n’ Cheese (1.8g of salt), and Kellogg’s Frosties cereal bar, made up of almost a third sugar. The Editor of Which? Said: “Parents should be able to pick out healthy products for their kids’ lunchboxes, but what you see isn’t always what you get”.more

The Grocer - Majestic toasts online sales
Wine vendor Majestic is celebrating a profit increase of 9% to £6.1m, according to sales figures released last week. Its acquisition of upscale wine specialist Lay & Wheeler will have played a part in this, but the retailer also cited online sales – up nearly 25% on last year. This comes in contrast to a 6.9% decline in business sales at the chain.more

The Grocer - Cadbury knocks Kraft’s hostile bid
Roger Carr, chairman of Cadbury, has attacked Kraft’s formal offer last week of £9.8bn, calling it “an even more unacceptable price from the same unappealing source”. In his first interview since the bid was made, Carr told the Sunday Telegraph that he believes this to be “a derisory offer from a company that sees Cadbury as a strategic solution to fill the gaping hole of growth in their business model”.more

Marketing Week - Hershey and Ferrero come to the Cadbury party
Hot on the heels of Kraft’s hostile bid, Ferrero and Hershey are reported to be in discussions with Cadbury to make an offer for the brand. Meanwhile Kraft is said to be approaching Cadbury shareholders direct after its cash plus share offer worth c. £10bn was rejected by the Board.more

Marketing Week - BMW signs for 2012
BMW is to be the 24th official sponsor for London 2012. The company will supply up to 4000 cars and motorcycles to transport competitors and officials throughout the event. Other sponsors already onboard include Cadbury’s, British Airways and Lloyds TSB amongst others.more

Marketing Week - The Times ends free access to content
The Times has announced that it is to start charging for content either via subscription or with one-off 24 hour passes. The idea of charging on an article by article basis was rejected for fear that the calibre of articles would be sacrificed in favour of increasing readership. more

The Retail Round-up is brought to you by the FreshMinds Retail team: Polly MacLehose from Select, Keri Link from Interim and Jo Lynas from Graduate.