Ocado’s secret talks with M&S could spell the end for Waitrose tie-up. Talks to deliver Marks & Spencer groceries emerge as end to Waitrose partnership looms. Ocado Group (OCDO) has held secret talks with Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) over the launch of a food delivery service that could signal the end of its long running tie-up with Waitrose. The Ocado name has been intertwined with Waitrose for the past 20 years but the current supply deal between the companies ends in September 2020. City analysts expect the businesses, which have always had a stormy relationship, to part ways. John Lewis Partnership, which controls Waitrose, no longer has any ownership of Ocado, which is separately quoted on the stock market and is valued at around £6.6bn. A tie-up with M&S is likely to result in Ocado dropping Waitrose as its key groceries supplier, although it will not leave customers of the upmarket grocer without a delivery option. Waitrose has in recent years developed its Waitrose.com delivery operation run from its own stores and warehouses; at present, customers can order from Waitrose or Ocado. A report in the Mail on Sunday said that grocery delivery is planned as a key way for M&S chairman Archie Norman to turn around the retailer’s ailing fortunes. The newspaper suggests M&S would be interested in buying key distribution centres, delivery vans and lorries from Ocado. John Lewis Partnership was one of the early investors in Ocado but sold its holding for about £150m in 2011. Over the past decade, the employee-owned retailer has invested heavily in Waitrose.com, so it already competes directly with Ocado.
Thousands of Tesco (TSCO) jobs at risk as bosses look to axe fresh food counters. Reports claim retail giant plans to axe butchers and fishmongers, and trim bakeries among other cuts. Tesco is embarking on a fresh round of aggressive cost-cutting in its UK supermarket business that could eliminate thousands of jobs and its in-store deli counters. The latest plan reportedly involves the closure of meat, fish and delicatessen counters as well as downgrading in-store bakeries. Staff canteens are also to be replaced with vending machines, according to the Mail on Sunday, with suggestions of up to 15,000 jobs at risk. The cuts are part of a plan to slash £1.5bn from Tesco’s cost base as chief executive Dave Lewis tries to rebuild profits which have never recovered from the 2014 accounting scandal. If the cuts go ahead fishmonger, butcher and baker jobs at the store giant could be at risk, along with counter staff. The report suggested some counters would close while others would have opening hours cut. The plans would affect most of Tesco’s 732 largest stores, it said.
