www.cadbury.co.uk
www.cadburyschweppes.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadbury_Schweppes all info that you need is here
www.sainsburys.co.uk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sainsbury%27s all info that you need is here
www.reading-buses.co.uk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading_Buses all info that you need is here
www.oxfam.co.uk
www.oxfam.org
www.oxfam.org.uk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxfam info that you need is here
Cadbury Schweppes plc is a confectionery and beverage company with its headquarters in Berkeley Square, London, England, UK. Cadbury Schweppes is currently the only major international confectionery manufacturer to produce Fairtrade or organic products, which it sells through its subsidiary company Green & Black's.
Contents [hide]
1 Corporate history
1.1 Schweppes
1.2 Cadbury's
1.3 Merger
2 Domestic and international subsidiaries
2.1 United Kingdom
2.2 Canada
2.3 United States
2.4 Elsewhere
2.5 Schweppes
2.6 Accounting
2.7 Demerger
3 Products
4 References
5 See also
6 External links
[edit] Corporate history
[edit] Schweppes
Johann Jacob Schweppe (born 1740 in Witzenhausen, Hesse, Germany; died 1821 in Geneva) was a German watchmaker and silversmith. He developed a method to charge water with carbon dioxide gas. Schweppe patented this method in 1783, some time after Joseph Priestley discovered a method to carbonate water. Carbonated water was originally produced for medical use. In 1790, Schweppe founded a factory to produce soda water on London's Drury Lane.
[edit] Cadbury's
Independently, in 1824, John Cadbury began vending tea, coffee, and (later) chocolate at Bull Street in Birmingham in the UK and sometimes in India. The company was then known as Cadbury Brothers Limited.
After John Cadbury's retirement, his sons, Richard and George, opened a major factory in the purpose-built suburb of Bournville, four miles south of the city.
After World War I, Cadbury Brothers Limited undertook a financial merger with J.S. Fry & Sons Limited.
[edit] Merger
The two companies merged to form Cadbury Schweppes in 1969.
[edit] Domestic and international subsidiaries
[edit] United Kingdom
Cadbury UK also owns Trebor Bassett, Fry's, Maynards and Halls. The confectionery business in the UK is known as Cadbury Trebor Bassett and, as of August 2004, had eight factories and 3,000 staff in the UK. Biscuits bearing the Cadbury brand, such as Cadbury Fingers, are produced under licence by Burton's Foods. Cadbury's cakes and chocolate spread are manufactured under licence by Premier Foods but the cakes were originally part of Cadbury Foods Ltd with factories at Blackpole in Worcester and Moreton on The Wirral with distribution depots throughout the UK.
[edit] Canada
Cadbury Beverages Canada Inc., based in Mississauga, Ontario is the company's Canadian subsidiary for beverage related products while Cadbury Adams is the company's Canadian confectionery subsidiary, based in Toronto. Most brands and products match those in the UK; the chocolate bar line was rebranded in late 2005 to the UK-standard purple wrapper theme.
[edit] United States
The Cadbury Schweppes company's presence in the United States consists of the beverage unit Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages, and confectionery unit Cadbury Adams. Cadbury merged with Peter Paul in 1978, although Cadbury Schweppes chocolate products have been sold in the U.S. since 1988 under the Cadbury trademark name, the chocolate itself has been manufactured by Hershey's and can be found in Hershey's chocolate stores. In 1982, Cadbury Schweppes purchased the Duffy-Mott Company. In early 2006, all of Mott's beverage brands (Grandma's Molasses, Hawaiian Punch, IBC Root Beer, Mr and Mrs T Bloody Mary mix, Orangina, and Yoo-hoo) were folded into Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages. Mott's continues to operate as a separate unit of Cadbury Schweppes.
[edit] Elsewhere
Cadbury also operates factories in Alexandria, Cairo and Ramadan City (Egypt), Barcelona (Spain), Warsaw (Poland), Dublin (Ireland), Dunedin (New Zealand), Port Elizabeth (South Africa), Mexico City (Mexico), Ringwood (Melbourne, Australia) and Claremont (Hobart, Australia).
[edit] Schweppes
Cadbury Schweppes does not manufacture Schweppes beverages for Brazil, Hong Kong, Mexico, Ireland, New Zealand, and Romania. In the United Kingdom and Serbia they are produced by The Coca-Cola Company and, in Poland, by PepsiCo.
[edit] Accounting
In May 2006, Cadbury Schweppes announced that it would be outsourcing its transactional accounting and order capture functions to Shared Business Services (SBS) centres run by a company called Genpact, (a businesses services provider) in India, China, and Romania. This was to affect all business units and be associated with US and UK functions being transferred to India by end of 2006, with all units transferred by mid-2008. Depending on the success of this move, other accounting Human Resources functions may follow. This development is likely to lead to the loss of several hundred jobs worldwide, but also to several hundred jobs being created, at lower salaries commensurate with wages paid in developing countries.
[edit] Demerger
In March 2007, it was revealed that Cadbury Schweppes is planning to split its business into two separate entities: one focusing on its main chocolate and confectionery market; the other on its US drinks business.[1] It is speculated that the split could dramatically increase Cadbury's value, from its current market value of about £12,600 million, to up to an estimated £16,000 million combined value.
In October 2007, Cadbury announced the closure of the Keynsham chocolate factory, formerly part of Fry's. Between 500 and 700 jobs would be affected by this change. Production will be transferred to other plants in England and Poland.
[edit] Products
Main article: Cadbury Schweppes products
Cadbury Schweppes produces beverages, chocolates and sweets/candies such as the popular 'Dairy Milk'.
[edit] References
^ "Cadbury plans to split business" - BBC News, 14 March 2007.
Cadbury New Zealand Chocolate Crumb Plant Expected to Be Completed in 3 Months (FLEXNEWS, 31 July 2007)
This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2008)
[edit] See also
Cadbury Adams
Cadbury Trebor Bassett
Cadbury World
Stimorol
Big Chocolate
Bournville
Gorilla (Cadbury)
[edit] External links
Cadbury Schweppes plc
Cadbury Trebor Bassett (UK)
Cadbury India
Cadbury South Africa
Cadbury Adams USA
Cadbury Australia
Cadbury Ireland
Cadbury Canada
Cadbury New Zealand
Cadbury Nigeria
Schweppes
Home of Cadbury.
J Sainsbury plc is the parent company of Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd, commonly known as Sainsbury's, a chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. The group also has interests in property and banking. The group has an estate worth about £8.6 billion (March 2007).[1]
For much of the 20th century Sainsbury's was the market leader in the UK supermarket sector, but in 1995 it lost its place as the UK's largest grocer to Tesco and in 2003 was pushed into third by ASDA. The company's fortunes have improved since the launch of a recovery programme by CEO Justin King in 2004, with it reporting its 12th consecutive quarter of sales growth in January 2008.[2] Despite predictions that Sainsbury's would regain second position, Taylor Nelson Sofres data released in January 2008 shows Asda's share as 16.7% compared to Sainsbury's at 16.4%.[3]
Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 2000-2004: Peter Davis
1.2 2004 onwards: Justin King
1.2.1 Takeover bid: one
1.2.2 Post takeover bid
1.2.3 Takeover bid: two
2 Financial performance
3 Store formats
3.1 Convenience stores
4 Distribution
5 Online service
6 Product ranges
7 Advertising
8 Sainsbury's Bank
9 Sainsbury family
10 References
11 External links
[edit] History
Sainsbury's was established as a partnership in 1869 when John James Sainsbury and his wife Mary Ann opened a store at 173 Drury Lane in Holborn, London. In 1922 J Sainsbury was incorporated as a private company. The first self-service branch opened in Croydon in 1950. In 1973 the company was floated as J Sainsbury plc in what was at the time the largest ever flotation on the London Stock Exchange; the company rewarded the smaller bids for shares in order to create as many shareholders as possible. Today the family retains at least 14% of the shares.
In 1975, Sainsbury's launched the "Sainsbury's SavaCentre" hypermarket format as a joint venture with Bhs. This was the first attempt to launch supermarkets with a large non-food range in the UK. Savacentre became a wholly owned Sainsbury's subsidiary in 1989. As the hypermarket format became more mainstream, with rivals such as ASDA and Tesco launching ever-larger stores, it was decided that a separate brand was no longer needed and the stores were converted to the regular Sainsbury's superstore format in 1999. This is in direct contrast to rival firms Tesco and ASDA, which have been rapidly expanding their Tesco Extra and ASDA Wal-Mart Supercentre hypermarket formats in recent years.
Sainsbury's founded the Homebase DIY chain in 1979. Homebase was tripled in size in 1995 with the acquisition of the rival Texas Homecare from the Ladbroke Group plc. Sainsbury's sold the Homebase chain in December 2000 in a twofold deal worth £969 million. Sales of the chain of stores to venture capitalist Schroder Ventures generated £750 million and sale of 28 development sites, which had been earmarked for future Homebase stores, were sold for £219 million to rival B&Q's parent company, Kingfisher plc. At the time, the chain had 13% of the UK market, behind B&Q and Focus Do It All.
The last counter service branch closed in 1982. In November 1983 Sainsbury's purchased 21% of Shaw's Supermarkets, the second largest grocery group in the north-east United States. In June of 1987, Sainsbury's acquired a controlling interest. Despite good performance by Shaw's, Sainsbury's sold the group on 30 April 2004.
In 1992 the long-time CEO John Sainsbury retired and was replaced by his cousin, David Sainsbury. In 2004 The Times quoted a former executive and others who view this event as the start of the company's downturn due to management failures of David Sainsbury and his successors, Dino Adriano and Peter Davis. Mistakes cited include David Sainsbury's famous dismissal of Tesco's loyalty card, the reluctance to move into non-food retailing, the indecision between Sainsbury's quality/price position, "the sometimes brutal treatment of suppliers" which led to suppliers favouring Tesco over Sainsbury's and the unsuccessful John Cleese advertising campaign.[4]
Sainsbury's expanded its operation into Scotland with a store in Darnley opening in January 1992, (the SavaCentre at Cameron Toll in Edinburgh had opened in 1984). In June 1995 Sainsbury's announced its intention to move into the Northern Ireland market, until that point dominated by local companies.[5] Between December 1996 and December 1998 the company opened seven stores. Two others at Sprucefield, Lisburn and Holywood Exchange, Belfast would not open until 2003 due to protracted legal challenges. Sainsbury's move into Northern Ireland was undertaken in a very different way from that of Tesco. While Sainsbury's outlets were all new developments, Tesco (apart from one Tesco Metro) instead purchased existing chains from Associated British Foods (see Tesco Ireland). In January 2008 Sainsbury's brought its number of Northern Ireland supermarkets to 11 with the purchase of two Curley's Supermarkets, which includes those store's petrol stations and off licences.[6][7]
Old Sainsbury's logo used from the 1960s to 1999
Current Sainsbury's logoIn March 1997 Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd. was established as a separate subsidiary of the group.
In June 1999 Sainsbury's unveiled its new corporate identity, which comprised of the current company logo (right), new corporate colours of "living orange" and blue, Interstate as the company's general use font, the M&C Saatchi strapline "Making life taste better" and new staff uniforms.[8][9] The strapline was dropped in May 2005 and replaced in September of that year by "Try something new today." While the Interstate font was used almost exclusively for many years, the company introduced another informal font in 2005 which is used in a wide range of advertising and literature.
In 1999 Sainsbury's acquired an 80.1% share of Egyptian Distribution Group SAE, a retailer in Egypt with 100 stores and 2,000 employees. However poor profitability led to the sale of this share in 2001.[10] On 8 October 1999 the CEO Dino Adriano lost control of the core UK supermarket business, instead assuming responsibility for the rest of the group. David Bremner became head of the UK supermarkets. This was "derided" by the city[11] and described as a "fudge".[12] On 14 January 2000 Sainsbury's reversed this decision by announcing the replacement of Adriano by Sir Peter Davis effective from March.[12]
[edit] 2000-2004: Peter Davis
Davis' appointment was well received by investors and analysts.[13] In his first two years he raised profits above targets, however by 2004 the group had suffered a decline in performance relative to its competitors and was demoted to third in the UK grocery market. Davis also oversaw an almost £3 billion upgrade of stores, distribution and IT equipment, but his successor would later reveal that much of this investment was wasted and he failed in his key goal - improving availability. Part of this investment saw the construction of four fully automated depots, which at £100 million each cost four times more than standard depots.[14]
In 2001 Sainsbury's moved into its current headquarters at Holborn, London. Sainsbury's previously occupied Stamford House and 12 other buildings around Southwark. However the accounting department remained separate at Streatham. The building was designed by architectural firm Foster and Partners and had been developed on the former Mirror Group site for Andersen Consulting (now Accenture), however Sainsbury's acquired the 25 year lease when Accenture pulled out.
Sainsbury's is a founding member of the Nectar loyalty card scheme, which was launched in late 2002 in conjunction with Debenhams, Barclaycard and BP. The Nectar scheme replaced the Sainsbury's Reward Card; accrued points were transferred over. The loyalty scheme is run by a 3rd party company - Loyalty Management UK or LMUK as often abbreviated, collating information on behalf of the partner sponsors.
In 2003 Wm Morrison Supermarkets made an offer for the Safeway group, prompting a bidding war between the major supermarkets. The Trade and Industry Secretary, Patricia Hewitt, referred the various bids to the Competition Commission which reported its findings on 26 September. The Commission found that all bids, with the exception of Morrison's, would "operate against the public interest". As part of the approval Morrison's was to dispose of 53 of the combined group's stores. In May 2004 Sainsbury's announced that it would acquire 14 of these stores, 13 Safeway stores and 1 Morrison's outlet located primarily in the Midlands and the North of England. The first of these new stores opened in August 2004.
At the end of March 2004 Davis was promoted to chairman and was replaced as CEO by Justin King. In June 2004 Davis was forced to quit in the face of an impending shareholder revolt over his salary and bonuses. Investors were angered by a bonus share award of over £2m despite poor company performance. On 19 July 2004 Davis' replacement, Philip Hampton, was appointed as chairman. Hampton has previously worked for British Steel, British Gas, BT and Lloyds TSB.
[edit] 2004 onwards: Justin King
J Sainsbury HQ in Holborn CircusJustin King joined Sainsbury's from Marks and Spencer plc where he was a director with responsibility for its food division and Kings Super Markets, Inc. subsidiary in the United States.[15] Schooled in Solihull and a graduate of the University Of Bath, where he took a business administration degree, King was also previously a managing director at Asda with responsibility for hypermarkets.[15]
King ordered a direct mail campaign to 1 million Sainsbury's customers as part of his 6 month business review asking them what they wanted from the company and where the company could improve. This reaffirmed the commentary of retail analysts - the group was not ensuring that shelves are fully stocked, this due to the failure of the IT systems introduced by Peter Davis. On 19 October 2004 King unveiled the results of the business review and his plans to revive the company's fortunes. This was generally well received by both the stock market and the media. Immediate plans included laying off 750 headquarters staff and the recruitment of around 3,000 shop-floor staff to improve the quality of service and the firm's main problem: stock availability. Another significant announcement was the halving of the dividend to increase funds available for price cuts and quality.
King hired Lawrence Christensen as supply chain director in 2004. Previously he was an expert in logistics at Safeway. Immediate supply chain improvements included the reactivation of two distribution centres. In 2006 Christensen commented on the four automated depots introduced by Davis, saying "not a single day went by without one, if not all of them, breaking down... The systems were flawed. They have to stop for four hours every day for maintenance. But because they were constantly breaking down you would be playing catch up. It was a vicious circle."[14] Christensen said a fundamental mistake was to build four such depots at once, rather than building one which could be thoroughly tested before progressing with the others.[16] In 2007 Sainsbury's announced a further £12 million investment in its depots to keep pace with sales growth and the removal of the failed automated systems from its depots.[17]
Sainsbury's sold its American subsidiary, Shaw's, to Albertsons in 2004.[18] Also in 2004 Sainsbury's expanded its share of the convenience store market through acquisitions. Bell's Stores, a 54 store chain based in north-east England was acquired in February 2004.[19] Jackson's Stores, a chain of 114 stores based in Yorkshire and the North Midlands, was purchased in August 2004.[20] JB Beaumont, a chain of 6 stores in the East Midlands was acquired in November 2004.[21] SL Shaw Ltd, which owned six stores was acquired on 28 April 2005 for £6 million.[22] On 29 September 2004, Sainsbury's established Sainsbury's Convenience Stores Ltd. to manage its Sainsbury's Local stores and the Bells and Jacksons chains. The latter two are to be rebranded as Sainsbury's Local by 2009.
Since the launch of King's recovery programme, the company has reported twelve consecutive quarters of sales growth, most recently in January 2008.[2] Early sales increases were credited to solving problems with the company's distribution system.[23] More recent sales improvements have been put down to price cuts and the company's focus on fresh and healthy food. [24]
On October 4 2007 Sainsbury's announced plans to relocate its Store Support Centre from Holborn to Kings Cross in 2011. The new office will be part of a new complex to allow for both cost savings and energy efficiency. These savings will be made through the use of efficient building materials and design, a combined heat and power energy centre and the use of renewable energy sources.[25]
According to Taylor Nelson Sofres rankings published in January 2008, Sainsbury's market share was 16.4% compared to Tesco's 31.5%, ASDA's 16.7% and Morrison's 11.4%.[3]
[edit] Takeover bid: one
On 2 February 2007, after months of speculation about a private equity bid, CVC Capital Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) and Blackstone Group announced that they were considering a bid for Sainsbury's.[26] The consortium grew to include Goldman Sachs and Texas Pacific Group. On 6 March 2007, with a formal bid yet to be tabled, the Takeover Panel issued a bid deadline of 13 April.[27]
On 4 April KKR left the consortium to focus on its bid for Alliance Boots.[28] On 5 April the consortium submitted an "indicative offer" of 562p a share to the company's board. After discussions between Sir Philip Hampton and the two largest Sainsbury family shareholders (Lord Sainsbury and Lord (John) Sainsbury) the offer was rejected.[28] On 9 April the indicative offer was raised to 582p a share, however this too was rejected. This meant the consortium could not satisfy its own preconditions for a bid, most importanly 75% shareholder support; the combined Sainsbury family holding at the time was 18%. On 11 April the CVC-led consortium abandoned its offer, stating "it became clear the consortium would be unable to make a proposal that would result in a successful offer."[29]
On 25 April Delta Two, a Qatari investment company, bought a 14% stake in Sainsbury's causing its share price to rise 7.17%. Three's interest in Sainsbury's is thought to centre on its property portfolio. They increased their stake to 25% in June 2007. [30]
[edit] Post takeover bid
On 16 May 2007 Sainsbury's announced underlying profits for the year ending on 24 March (before pension and interest charge benefits) rose by 42.3% to £380 million. Revenue rose 6.9% to £18.52 billion. King announced the company was ahead of its target to raise revenue by £2.5 billion by 2008 and that a new three year £3.5 billion sales target was being adopted.[31] 66% of these sales are to come from grocery and 33% from nonfood (e.g clothing and entertainment). Other plans include the refurbishment or extension of half of the company's stores.[31]
[edit] Takeover bid: two
In April 2007 Delta Two, the investment fund backed by the Qatar Investment Authority, purchased 17.6% of Sainsbury's shares. In June 2007 this was increased to 25%.[32] On 18 July BBC News reported that Delta Two had tabled a conditional bid proposal.[33] On 5 November 2007 it was announced Delta Two had abandoned its takeover bid due to the "deterioration of credit markets" and concerns about funding the company's pension scheme.[34] Following the withdrawal of the interest of the QIA, shares in Sainsbury's dropped around 20% (115p) to 440p on the day of this announcement (November 5th 2007). Delta two have now withdrawn and no takeover bid is expected
[edit] Financial performance
Year end Sales(£m) Pre tax profit(£m) Profit for year(£m) Basic eps (p)
24 March 20071 18,518 477 324 19.2
25 March 20061 16,061 104 58 ³ 3.8
26 March 20051 15,409 15 614 3.5
27 March 20041 17,141 610 396 20.7
29 March 20031 17,079 667 454 23.7
30 March 20021 17,162 571 364 19.1
31 March 20011 17,244 437 276 14.5
1 April 20001 16,271 509 349 18.3
3 April 19992 16,433 888 598 31.4
7 March 19981 14,500 719 487 26.1
8 March 19971 13,395 609 403 22.0
9 March 19961 12,672 712 488 26.8
11 March 19951 11,357 809 536 29.8
12 March 19941 10,583 369 142 8.0
13 March 19931 9,686 733 503 28.5
14 March 19921 8,696 628 438 25.7
16 March 19911 7,813 518 355 23.6
17 March 19901 6,930 451 314 20.8
denotes 52 weeks
denotes 56 weeks.
"One off operating costs" of £152 million incurred. This includes £63 million to terminate the IT outsourcing contract with Accenture.
£168 million before exceptional costs (cost of "turnaround" plan and write off of excess merchandise etc.)
[edit] Store formats
Sainsbury's Holywood Exchange, the company's eighth Northern Irish store.
Sainsbury's checkouts
Sainsbury's in Canley, Coventry, EnglandThe supermarket chain operates three main store formats; regular Sainsbury's stores, Sainsbury's Local (convenience stores) and Sainsbury's Central (smaller supermarkets in urban locations) stores (Savacentre used to be the larger Sainsbury's supermarkets but was phased out). At the end of its 2005/06 financial year Sainsbury's store portfolio was as follows. [35]
Format Number Area (ft²) Area (m²) Percentage of space
Supermarkets 455 15,916,000 1,467,000 95.1%
Convenience stores 297 821,000 76,000 4.9%
Total 752 16,737,000 1,543,000 100.0%
Sainsbury's currently uses NCR Point of Sale equipment operating the Retalix "Storeline" software, replacing the Fujitsu-ICL POS systems used during the 1990s.
Traditionally, Sainsbury's was most present in the areas around London and south-east England. Expansion since 1945 has given the company national reach, although the chain is not as represented in Scotland as other chains such as Tesco, and Morrisons (as Safeway dominated Scotland before being taken over by that company).
Some of Sainsbury's highest-taking stores are Tunbridge Wells, Dome Roundabout in Watford, Hedge End in Southampton,Badger Farm in Winchester, Ladbroke Grove, Merton and New Cross Gate (all in London).
[edit] Convenience stores
Sainsbury's, Tesco, Marks and Spencer and Somerfield are the only major chains to operate convenience stores; Asda and Morrisons do not currently have presence in this area of the market.
As well as its own Local and Central stores Sainsbury's has expanded through acquisition of existing chains (Bell's Stores, Jackson's Stores, JB Beaumont, and SL Shaw Ltd). Sainsbury's initially retained the strong Bells and Jacksons brands. For example, refurbished stores were called Sainsbury's at Bells or Sainsbury's at Jacksons. These were effectively Sainsbury's Local stores with a revised facia, retaining some features of the former local chain. Unrefurbished stores retained the original brand and logo, but still offered Sainsbury's own brand products, pricing and some point of sale, without accepting Nectar cards. The old websites were also retained with some Sainsbury's branding. This was an experimental format and on 4 May 2007 it was announced that all stores would be rebranded as Sainsbury's Local[1], with the management teams of the smaller stores integrated into Sainsbury's own teams.
[edit] Distribution
The main mode of distribution for Sainsbury's is road freight. The company has several road depots including the following locations[36]:
Allington, Kent
Basingstoke, Hampshire
Belfast
Buntingford, Hertfordshire
Charlton
Elstree, Hertfordshire
Emerald Park, Emerson's Green, Bristol
Hams Hall, Coleshill, West Midlands
Haydock, Merseyside
Northampton
Langlands, Lanarkshire
Rugby, Warwickshire - including all floral distribution
Shire Park, Worcester
Stoke, Staffordshire
Stone, Staffordshire
Waltham Point, Essex
Some of these are run by Sainsbury's, others by contracters like Tibbett and Britten.
Originally Sainsbury's ran its own distribution network. However after an industrial dispute with their drivers in the 1970s, some of the distribution is now contracted out - companies include Tibbett and Britten, and Corby Distribution.
In 2007 Sainsbury's experimented with using barges on the River Thames to supply some London stores near to the river, and found the time taken to compare favourably with road distribution.
[edit] Online service
Sainsbury's operates an internet shopping service branded as "Sainsbury's Online". To use this service customers choose their grocery items online. Pickers then collect the required items which are delivered to customers from a local store by van. This is available to about 75% of the UK population. The service is run from larger stores which carry the full product range - over 100 stores operate an Online service.
Prior to September 2007, and in common with other UK supermarkets with an online shopping and delivery service such as Tesco or Ocado, Sainsbury's Online delivery staff would carry items direct to customers' kitchens. However, from September 2007, delivery staff have been instructed to hand over goods at the front door and to not enter customers' houses. This is reportedly due to Sainsbury's no longer having insurance which covers their staff when entering people's homes. However the delivery drivers regularly do deliver to kitchens due to customer incapacity and if they express a desire for them to do so.
[edit] Product ranges
A large store typically stocks around 50,000 lines of which around 50% are "own-label" goods. These own-brand lines include:
Basics: an economy range of around 500 lines, mainly food but also including other areas including toiletries and stationery. The Basics range uses minimal packaging with simple orange and white designs, to keep the price as low as possible. Equivalent to Tesco's Value , ASDA's Smart price and Morrison's Value (formerly Bettabuy)
Taste the Difference: around 1100 premium food lines, including many processed foods such as ready meals and premium bakery lines. Similar to ASDA's Extra Special, Tesco Finest and Morrison's The Best.
Different by Design: a smaller range of premium non-food lines, including flowers which were previously branded "Orlando Hamilton".
Kids: these lines are for children. In 2006 these lines replaced the Blue Parrot Café range.
Be Good To Yourself: products with reduced calorific and/or fat content.
Free From: over 75 product lines.[37] These products are suitable for those allergic to dairy products. (The majority of these are dairy and gluten/wheat free)
Sainsbury's Organic (SO Organic): Around 500 lines of food / drink which is not derived from food stuffs treated with fertiliser or pesticides.
Fair Trade: Over 100 fair trade products. [38] - All bananas sold at Sainsbury's are now fair trade. The own-brand tea and coffee is being converted to Fairtrade over the next three years. [39]
Super NaturalsTM: A range of ready meals with healthy ingredients.
[edit] Advertising
Since 2000 Jamie Oliver has been the public face of Sainsbury's, appearing on television and radio advertisements and in-store promotional material. The deal earns him an estimated £1.2 million every year. In the first two years these advertisements are estimated to have given Sainsbury's an extra £1 billion of sales or £200 million gross profit. [40]
Sainsbury's currently uses the "Try something new today" slogan which was launched in an effort to make consumers venture into purchasing more varied goods. Over the years, Sainsbury's has used many slogans:
"Quality perfect, Prices Lower" The slogan used on the shopfront of the Islington store in 1882.
"Sainsbury's For Quality, Sainsbury's For Value"- Used in 1918 above the Drury Lane store.
"Good Food Costs Less At Sainsbury's" — Used from the 1960s to the 1990s. Described by BBC News as "probably the best-known advertising slogan in retailing." [41]
"Sainsbury's - Everyone's Favourite Ingredient" — Used in a series of TV commercials in the 1990s which featured celebrities cooking Sainsbury's food.
"Fresh food, fresh ideas"-used in 1998
"Value to shout about" — A 1998/1999 campaign fronted by John Cleese which was widely claimed to have been a major mistake. Sainsbury's said it actually depressed sales. However, the company had been losing sales for years because of the rise of rival Tesco. [42]
"Making Life Taste Better" Introduced 1999 and used until May 2005
"Try something new today" Introduced in September 2005. Replaced on carrier bags, till receipts and all other corporate branding from this point.
[edit] Sainsbury's Bank
Main article: Sainsbury's Bank
In 1997 Sainsbury's Bank was established - a joint venture between J Sainsbury plc. and the Bank of Scotland (now HBOS).
Services offered include car, life, home, pet and travel insurance as well as health cover, loans, credit cards, savings accounts and ISAs.
[edit] Sainsbury family
Today there is little family involvement in the company. David Sainsbury's retirement as chairman in 1998 brought to an end 129 years of management of the group by the Sainsbury family. As a government minister since 1998, his shares were held in a blind trust until 2007.
The Sunday Times reported in September 2006 that "The Sainsbury family continues to [sell] shares in the £6.2 billion retailer... and for the first time their combined holding has fallen below 20%."[43] The Qatari royal family of the Gulf Kingdom are now the largest stakeholders with a 25.007% share in the company.[44]
As of January 2007, the reportable interests of the Sainsbury family represent some 13.9% of J Sainsbury's share capital. All the shares above are held by family lawyer and trustee Miss Judith Portrait.[45] This follows Lord Sainsbury of Preston Candover's decision to split his 3.89% holding in Sainsbury's between other members of his family.[46]
The statement by Lord (John) Sainsbury in December 2006 suggests that the family may not have sold as many shares as previously thought. The other theory could be that the most senior members of the family, with previous stakes of over 3% (the reportable stock exchange shareholding threshold), could have simply transferred some of their shares to their children (who previously held few shares), rather than having sold shares onto the open market. However, some shares which have been sold were definitely sold to the open market (according to Miss Judith Portrait).
This fall from around 35% increases the possibility of any takeover attempt succeeding. However a hostile bid for the company may encounter difficulties, without the full support of the Sainsbury family. The halving of the generous dividend yield in recent years, may have been a significant factor regarding the family's decision to reduce their shareholdings.
[edit] References
^ http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=187
^ a b Jameson, Angela. "Sainsbury's sales rise defies retail gloom", The Times, Times Newspapers, 2008-01-10. Retrieved on 2008-01-10.
^ a b "Sainsbury's reports rise in sales", BBC News, 2008-01-10. Retrieved on 2008-01-10.
^ Hosking, Patrick. "Rot set in at the family firm back in 1992", The Times, Times Newspapers, 2004-10-20, p. 48. Retrieved on 2007-02-08.
^ The sourcing in Northern Ireland of agricultural produce by national supermarkets and retailers (PDF). Northern Ireland Forum for Political Dialogue (1998-01-23). Retrieved on 2006-08-28.
^ "Retail giant buys family business", BBC News, BBC, 2008-01-16. Retrieved on 2008-01-16.
^ Curley's Supermarkets (2008-01-16). "Sainsbury's in deal with Curley's Supermarket" (Microsoft Word). Press release. Retrieved on 2008-01-16.
^ Jardine, Alexandra. "Sainsbury's overhauls its image for fightback", Marketing, Haymarket Publishing Services, 1999-06-10. Retrieved on 2007-03-07.
^ Marks, Kathy. "Dowdy Sainsbury to rebuild image", The Independent, Newspaper Publishing, 1999-06-03, p. 4. Retrieved on 2007-03-07.
^ "Sainsbury's pulls out of Egypt", BBC News, 2001-04-09. Retrieved on 2006-08-28.
^ Hope, Nigel. "City derides Sainsbury's boardroom reshuffle", The Independent, 1999-08-09, p. 18. Retrieved on 2007-02-08.
^ a b Wilson, Andrew. "Davis returns to the checkouts;Sainsbury appoints new chief executive", The Herald, Scottish Media Newspapers, 2000-01-15, p. 22. Retrieved on 2007-02-08.
^ Shah, Saeed. "Sir Peter Davis brought back to take helm at Sainsbury's", The Independent, Newspaper Publishing, 2000-01-15, p. 19. Retrieved on 2007-02-08.
^ a b Townsend, Abigail. "How the 'Newbury process' turned Sainsbury's round", The Independent on Sunday, Independent Newspapers, 2006-04-23. Retrieved on 2007-02-08.
^ a b J Sainsbury plc (2003-11-19). "Sainsbury’s appoints new Group Chief Executive". Press release. Retrieved on 2006-10-28.
^ Butler, Sarah. "Sainsbury's takes stock of itself after a year of tents and bunkers", The Times, Times Newspapers, 2005-10-08. Retrieved on 2007-02-08.
^ Butler, Sarah. "Sainsbury's to revamp depots as sales grow faster than forecast", The Times, Times Newspapers, 2007-01-12. Retrieved on 2007-02-09.
^ Potter, Mark; Carew, Sinead. "Sainsbury warns on profit as it checks out of U.S.", Reuters, 2004-03-26. Retrieved on 2006-10-11.
^ "Sainsbury's buys chain of stores", BBC News, 2004-02-18. Retrieved on 2006-10-11.
^ "Sainsbury's snaps up store chain", BBC News, 2004-08-16. Retrieved on 2006-10-11.
^ J Sainsbury plc (2004-11-30). "J Sainsbury plc announces acquisition of 3rd convenience store operator". Press release. Retrieved on 2006-10-11.
^ J Sainsbury plc (2005-04-29). "Sainsbury's announces acquisition of convenience store operator". Press release. Retrieved on 2006-10-11.
^ "Improved supply lifts Sainsbury's", BBC News, 2005-03-24. Retrieved on 2006-10-11.
^ Sanderson, Rachel. "Healthy foods help Sainsbury sales top forecasts", Reuters, 2006-10-11. Retrieved on 2006-10-11.
^ J Sainsbury Plc (2007-10-04). "Sainsbury’s announces relocation of Holborn central office". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
^ "Bid talk lifts Sainsbury's shares", BBC News, BBC, 2007-02-02. Retrieved on 2007-04-23.
^ Verjee, Neelam; Hawkes, Steve; Seib, Christine. "Tchenguiz buys 3% Sainsbury's stake as consortium is hurried", The Times, Times Newspapers, 2007-03-07, p. 48. Retrieved on 2007-04-23.
^ a b Braithwaite et al., Tom. "Private equity bid founders on family", Financial Times, 2007-04-14, p. 15. Retrieved on 2007-04-23.
^ Butler, Sarah. "CVC withdraws £10 billion offer for Sainsbury's", The Times, Times Newspapers, 2007-04-11. Retrieved on 2007-04-23.
^ Huge share deal lifts Sainsbury's BBC News 25 April 2007
^ a b Butler, Sarah. Sainsbury’s may lift chief’s pay after fourfold profit rise2007-05-17. The Times. Accessed on 2007-05-22.
^ Qatar ups Sainsbury stake to 25%
^ Qatar firm tables Sainsbury's bid
^ Sainsbury's takeover bid dropped
^ Company profile (PDF). J Sainsbury plc (July 2006). Retrieved on 2006-10-11.
^ http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/sid/locations/locations.htm
^ http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/food/foodandfeatures/sainsburys_food_ranges/freefrom/freefrom_1.htm
^ "Supermarkets switch to Fairtrade bananas", TimesOnline, 2006-12-13. Retrieved on 2007-03-25.
^ "Sainsbury's complete Fairtrade products list", Sainsbury's, February 2007. Retrieved on 2007-03-25.
^ Wheeler, Brian. "Sainsbury banks on fresh Oliver ads", BBC News, 2003-06-11. Retrieved on 2006-10-11.
^ "Stores at war: winning secrets", BBC News, 1999-06-04. Retrieved on 2006-10-11.
^ Pollock, Ian. "What's gone wrong for Sainsbury's?", BBC News, 1999-11-23. Retrieved on 2006-10-11.
^ Waples, John. "Agenda:Freed Sainsbury", The Sunday Times, News International, 2006-09-10. Retrieved on 2006-10-30.
^ "Qatar ups Sainsbury stake to 25%", BBC News, 2007-06-15. Retrieved on 2007-06-15.
^ http://investing.thisismoney.co.uk/cgi-bin/digitalcorporate/thisismoney/security.cgi?csi=10079&action=news&story_id=874881&rns=1
^ http://investing.thisismoney.co.uk/cgi-bin/digitalcorporate/thisismoney/security.cgi?csi=10079&action=news&story_id=955019&rns=1
Reading Transport Ltd is a bus operator serving the towns of Reading, Newbury and the surrounding area in the English county of Berkshire. The company is wholly owned by Reading Borough Council and operates under the brands Reading Buses, Newbury Buses and Goldline Travel. As such, it is one of the few remaining municipal bus companies in the UK.
The logos of Newbury Buses, Reading Buses and Goldline TravelContents [hide]
1 Current operations
1.1 Reading Buses
1.2 Newbury Buses
1.3 Goldline Travel
2 Biofuel experiments
3 See also
4 External links
[edit] Current operations
[edit] Reading Buses
Reading Transport operates public service buses under the Reading Buses brand throughout the town of Reading, and to a lesser extent in the rural area around Reading.
[edit] Newbury Buses
Reading Transport operates public service buses in the town of Newbury and surrounding area under the Newbury Buses brand. Operation of buses on the A4 corridor from Reading to Newbury via the smaller towns of Theale and Thatcham are operated jointly by Reading Buses and Newbury Buses. They also travel to Basingstoke via Kingsclere.
[edit] Goldline Travel
Reading Transport uses the Goldline Travel brand for its non-public service bus operations, including bus hire and services operated under contract for various local employers. Goldline Travel is also responsible for the operation of Fastrack and Daytrack park and ride services and Nighttrack night bus services, all of which are operated under contract to Reading Borough Council.
Many Goldline Travel services are operated by vehicles in the colour schemes of the contracting organisation, and are therefore not easily identified as Goldline Travel services. Besides Fastrack, Daytrack and Nighttrack services, these include services operated on behalf of Thames Valley Park in Reading, and on behalf of Vodafone in Newbury.
[edit] Biofuel experiments
Reading Transport is experimenting with biofuels, including biodiesel and alcohol fuel [1]
Oxfam International is a confederation of 13 organizations working with over 3,000 partners in more than 100 countries to find lasting solutions to poverty and injustice.[citation needed]
The 13 Oxfam organizations are based in: Australia, Belgium, Canada (along with a distinct Oxfam organization for the province of Quebec), France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. A small Oxfam International Secretariat is based in Oxford, UK, and the Secretariat runs advocacy offices in Washington, DC, New York, Brussels, and Geneva.
The Oxfam International Secretariat leads, facilitates and supports collaboration between the Oxfam affiliates to increase Oxfam International’s impact on poverty and injustice through advocacy campaigns, development programs and emergency response.
Oxfam Great Britain is based in Oxford, UK. It was founded in England in 1942 as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief by a group of concerned citizens including Canon Theodore Richard Milford (1896–1987), Professor Gilbert Murray and his wife Lady Mary, and Sir Alan Pim. It was one of a number of local committees formed in support of the National Famine Relief Committee. Their mission was to persuade the UK government to allow food relief through the Allied blockade for the starving citizens of Nazi-occupied Greece. The first overseas Oxfam was founded in Canada in 1963. The committee changed its name to its telegraph address, OXFAM, in 1965.
Contents [hide]
1 Oxfam's work
2 Shops
3 Funding
4 Fundraising
5 Criticism
6 References
7 See also
8 External links
8.1 Oxfam Regional Websites
8.2 Campaigns
8.3 Resources and Materials
9 Further Reading
[edit] Oxfam's work
Oxfam clothing and shoe bankThough Oxfam's initial concern was the provision of food to relieve famine, over the years Oxfam has developed strategies to combat the causes of famine. In addition to food and medicine Oxfam also provides tools to enable people to become self-supporting and opens markets of international trade where crafts and produce from poorer regions of the world can be sold at a fair price to benefit the producer.
Oxfam's program has three main points of focus: development work, which tries to lift communities out of poverty with long-term, sustainable solutions based on their needs; humanitarian work, assisting those immediately affected by conflict and natural disasters (which often leads in to longer-term development work), especially in the field of water and sanitation; and lobbyist, advocacy and popular campaigning, trying to affect policy decisions on the causes of conflict at local, national, and international levels.
Oxfam works on trade justice, fair trade, education, debt and aid, livelihoods, health, HIV/AIDS, gender equality, conflict (campaigning for an international arms trade treaty) and natural disasters, democracy and human rights, and climate change.
[edit] Shops
Oxfam shop on Drury Lane in Covent Garden, London.The first permanent Oxfam gift shop opened in February 1948 on the ground floor of 17 Broad Street, Oxford, England, a lease on which building had been taken by the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief (later Oxfam) the previous November. Today Oxfam operates approximately 750 shops throughout Britain as well as a number in other countries. Over 70 of the organization's shops in the UK are specialist Oxfam bookshops, making them the largest retailer of second-hand books in the United Kingdom. Oxfam Canada sold off its Bridgehead fair trade business, which in 2000 became the Bridgehead Coffee chain which continues to promote fair trade coffee and related products.
Oxfam shops also sell fair trade products from developing communities around the world.
[edit] Funding
Oxfam has received funding from the Ford Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Minneapolis Foundation, the Public Welfare Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the European Union. It has an annual operating budget of over $300 million USD.
[edit] Fundraising
Oxfam has a number of successful fundraising channels in addition to its shops. Over half a million people in the UK make a regular financial contribution towards its work, and vital funds are received from gifts left to the organization in people's wills. Many London Marathon competitors run to raise money for Oxfam, and Oxfam also receives funds in return for providing and organizing volunteer stewards at festivals such as Glastonbury. In conjunction with the Gurkha Welfare Trust, Oxfam also runs several Trailwalker events in Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
[edit] Criticism
On 26 October 2006, Oxfam accused Starbucks of asking the National Coffee Association to block a trademark application from Ethiopia for two of the country's coffee beans, Sidamo and Harar. They claim this could result in denying Ethiopian coffee farmers potential annual earnings of up to £47m.
Robert Nelson, the head of the NCA, added that his organization initiated the opposition for economic reasons, "For the U.S. industry to exist, we must have an economically stable coffee industry in the producing world...This particular scheme is going to hurt the Ethiopian coffee farmers economically." The NCA claims the Ethiopian government was being badly advised and this move could price them out of the market.[1]
Facing more than 90,000 letters of concern, Starbucks placed pamphlets in its stores accusing Oxfam of "misleading behavior" and insisting that its "campaign need[s] to stop." On 7 November, The Economist derided Oxfam's "simplistic" stance and Ethiopia's "economically illiterate" government, arguing that Starbucks' (and Illy's) standards-based approach would ultimately benefit farmers more. [2]
Nonetheless, on 20 June 2007 representatives of the Government of Ethiopia and senior leaders from Starbucks Coffee Company announced that they had concluded an agreement regarding distribution, marketing and licensing that recognizes the importance and integrity of Ethiopia’s specialty coffee designations. [3]
Oxfam Great Britain has been strongly criticised by other NGOs for becoming too close to Tony Blair's New Labour Government in the UK.[4]
Oxfam is one of the world's Big International Non-Government Organisations (BINGOs) which have been criticised for being undemocratic whilst wielding enormous financial and economic clout.[5]
On 28 April 2007 two academics in Melbourne, Australia representing a right-wing think tank lodged a complaint with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission accusing Oxfam of misleading or deceptive conduct under the Trade Practices Act in its promotion of Fairtrade coffee.[6] The academics claimed that high certification costs and low wages for workers undermine claims that Fairtrade helps to lift producers out of poverty. These claims were subsequently dismissed by the Commission.[7]
In 2003, Oxfam Belgium produced a poster with a picture of a dripping blood orange. The poster read, "Israeli fruits have a bitter taste...reject the occupation of Palestine, don't buy Israeli fruits and vegetables."[8] Oxfam was widely criticized because of the poster’s perceived anti-Israel political message and its allusion to traditional, antisemitic blood libel rhetoric. Following publicity and pressure from groups such as the NGO Monitor, Oxfam removed the poster from their web site and Ian Anderson, the chairman of Oxfam International, issued a letter of apology. However, Oxfam maintained its support for a boycott of products grown in the West Bank and Gaza.[9] Oxfam was criticized for its policy of what has been termed "selective morality."[10]
[edit] References
^ BBC News, Starbucks in Ethiopia coffee row, accessed 26 October 2006
^ Oxfam vs. Starbucks: And this time, Oxfam may be wrong
^ http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/pressdesc.asp?id=779
^ New Statesman
^ The Big Charity Bonanza
^ Overington, Caroline. "Oxfam coffee 'harms' poor farmers", The Australian, April 28, 2007.. Retrieved on 2007-04-28.
^ Not free, but fair: Oxfam cleared of coffee chicanery, quoted from The Age, 2007-06-28.
^ Oxfam Belgium produces political poster, NGO Monitor Digest, 2003-06-24.
^ Oxfam's Apology, NGO Monitor, 2003-07-16.
^ Israeli goods produced in the Occupied Territories: The position of Oxfam, Belgium, NGO Monitor, 2003-08-04.
[edit] See also
Make Trade Fair
Oxfam International Youth Partnership
[edit] External links
[edit] Oxfam Regional Websites
Oxfam International
Oxfam Great Britain
Oxfam America
Oxfam Ireland
Oxfam-Solidarity (Belgium)
Oxfam shops (Belgium, Flemish branch)
Oxfam shops (Belgium, French language branch)
Oxfam Novib (Netherlands)
Oxfam France - Agri ici
Oxfam Germany
Intermón Oxfam (Spain)
Oxfam Canada
Oxfam Québec
Oxfam America
Oxfam Hong Kong
Oxfam Japan
Oxfam Australia
Oxfam New Zealand
[edit] Campaigns
Make Trade Fair campaign
Control Arms Campaign
Stop Climate Chaos Campaign
Oxfam Fair Trade
Oxfam International Youth Partnership
Generation Why: Oxfam for students & young people
OXJAM - UK's Biggest Festival
Oxfam UK "I'm in" movement
Make Poverty History Coalition
Oxfam Health and Education
Oxfam Careers
[edit] Resources and Materials
Cool Planet - Oxfam GB's website for teachers and children
Oxfam Publishing - the databased catalogue website with records of over 2000 print and online resources from Oxfam (mainly from Oxfam Great Britain but also from other members of the confederation). Many materials are downloadable as pdf files
Intelligent Giving Profile of Oxfam GB
Charity Navigator Rating of Oxfam America