Shoppers boost Safeway figures.
The battle for supremacy among UK supermarkets has stepped up this
As the supermarket big six fight it out over value for money – the one-time top bargain destination, Safeway, trails bottom of a Which? magazine survey of that little bit extra the retailers bring to their customer’s shopping basket.
But Safeway is due to release a confident trading statement next Tuesday, which will reflect a sales growth that has outperformed the market average for 15 months.
Finance director Simon Laffin and chief executive Carlos Criado-Perez (top left) have overseen the retailer’s share of the UK sector leap to 9.7%, with sales in the half-year until mid-October up 5% on the previous year. Pre-tax profits, meanwhile, climbed 10% to #166m.
The good news for Safeway follows a reprieve last October from the Competition Commission report into UK supermarkets, which baulked from bracketing the sector as part of ‘Rip-Off Britain’. UK supermarkets were found to charge higher prices for goods due to higher land costs and the strength of sterling, rather than anti-competitive behaviour.
For more information on the supermarket giant visit www.safeway.co.uk.