Latest news with #Hurley
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
There is no UK supermarket price war, says Aldi boss
By James Davey LONDON (Reuters) -Britain is not in the midst of a supermarket price war despite some suggestions to the contrary, the boss of the UK arm of German discounter Aldi said, warning rivals his business still had "huge potential" for growth. In March, Asda, Britain's third largest grocer, boosted speculation of a price war, saying it would take a hit to profits to finance a campaign of price cuts aimed at reversing a slide in market share. The warning hit the shares of industry leader Tesco and number two Sainsbury's, which took account of Asda's move in their profit outlooks. But Giles Hurley, chief executive of Aldi UK, the number four player, said on Thursday there had been "more talk than substance". "There has been a lot of talk about a price war, I don't think that has manifested itself," he told Reuters in an interview, pointing to industry data showing grocery inflation hitting 4.1% in May, a 15-month high. "I'd probably call it more of a phoney price war than a real price war," Hurley said, maintaining that Aldi's price gap to rivals "is as big as it's ever been". Data from market researcher Kantar published on Wednesday showed Aldi UK's sales rose 6.7% over the 12 weeks to May 18, its fastest growth since the start of 2024, with its market share hitting a record 11.1%, up 30 basis points year-on-year. Aldi UK, owned by Germany's Aldi Sud, and rival discounter Lidl GB have expanded rapidly over the past two decades, transforming the supermarket scene. Aldi UK now has Asda, which has a 12.1% market share, in its sights, with the Kantar data showing Aldi now sells more food and drink than Asda. "While I'm delighted with the growth that we have, there's massive headroom for us," said Hurley. He said the group, which currently trades from 1,050 stores, would invest 650 million pounds ($875 million) this year opening 40 stores and refreshing existing ones. A further 40 openings are planned for 2026 and its long-term target is 1,500. ($1 = 0.7427 pounds) Sign in to access your portfolio
Reuters
2 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
There is no UK supermarket price war, says Aldi boss
LONDON, May 29 (Reuters) - Britain is not in the midst of a supermarket price war despite some suggestions to the contrary, the boss of the UK arm of German discounter Aldi said, warning rivals his business still had "huge potential" for growth. In March, Asda, Britain's third largest grocer, boosted speculation of a price war, saying it would take a hit to profits to finance a campaign of price cuts aimed at reversing a slide in market share. The warning hit the shares of industry leader Tesco (TSCO.L), opens new tab and number two Sainsbury's (SBRY.L), opens new tab, which took account of Asda's move in their profit outlooks. But Giles Hurley, chief executive of Aldi UK, the number four player, said on Thursday there had been "more talk than substance". "There has been a lot of talk about a price war, I don't think that has manifested itself," he told Reuters in an interview, pointing to industry data showing grocery inflation hitting 4.1% in May, a 15-month high. "I'd probably call it more of a phoney price war than a real price war," Hurley said, maintaining that Aldi's price gap to rivals "is as big as it's ever been". Data from market researcher Kantar published on Wednesday showed Aldi UK's sales rose 6.7% over the 12 weeks to May 18, its fastest growth since the start of 2024, with its market share hitting a record 11.1%, up 30 basis points year-on-year. Aldi UK, owned by Germany's Aldi Sud, and rival discounter Lidl GB have expanded rapidly over the past two decades, transforming the supermarket scene. Aldi UK now has Asda, which has a 12.1% market share, in its sights, with the Kantar data showing Aldi now sells more food and drink than Asda. "While I'm delighted with the growth that we have, there's massive headroom for us," said Hurley. He said the group, which currently trades from 1,050 stores, would invest 650 million pounds ($875 million) this year opening 40 stores and refreshing existing ones. A further 40 openings are planned for 2026 and its long-term target is 1,500. ($1 = 0.7427 pounds)
New York Times
2 days ago
- Climate
- New York Times
Western U.S. Is About to See Its First Major Heat of the Year
Parts of the Western United States could see record-breaking temperatures in the coming days, the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center warned, with heat advisories in place from Southern California to Yosemite and stretching west into Las Vegas. The scorching weather is expected to be focused over inland California, Nevada, Utah and portions of Oregon and Idaho, with the worst of the heat centered over California on Friday before shifting east to Nevada and Utah on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, temperatures could reach up to 106 Fahrenheit in Las Vegas, 100 in the Yosemite Valley, 100 in Boise and 93 in Salt Lake City — all close to or above the highest ever recorded in those locations on the date. 'We're looking at extreme heat across much of the West,' said Brian Hurley, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center. 'There are 15 sites out West that will get close to or could break a record.' Mr. Hurley said the warm-up would be short-lived, with temperatures dropping in California on Sunday and to the east on Monday. (He stopped short of calling it a heat wave, which is usually defined as a period of abnormally hot weather that lasts more than two days.) It's 'a bit early' in the year for these areas to see such high temperatures, Mr. Hurley said. The National Weather Service in Las Vegas issued an extreme heat warning for Friday and Saturday and advised people to avoid outdoor activities. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Family Services of Davidson County shuts down 2 programs amid financial challenges
DAVIDSON COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — A Davidson County nonprofit that helped families in need is expected to close a few of its programs after more than two decades. In an announcement on social media Wednesday afternoon, Family Services of Davidson County says they'll no longer provide clinical counseling and youth and community service programs effective June 30 due to financial challenges. County commissioner chair weighs in on Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools' multi-million dollar budget deficit The executive director of Family Services of Davidson County says they will continue their services at the Hattie Lee Burgess Home, which provides temporary shelter to victims of sexual and domestic violence. Janisa Hurley, the executive director of Davidson Medical Ministries, says the Family Services of Davidson County is much more than just a building off U.S. 29. 'It provides crisis intervention, provides hope and healing for folks who are in substance abuse, who are teenagers, and they have historically provided counseling and therapy to those, especially our teens and children,' Hurley said. Through the years and up until recently, Hurley says their program DC Connect partnered with Family Services of Davidson County to help community members get connected with some much-needed resources. 'If we just looked at this past month, we have sent referrals to them and, to us, that's about 10 different families,' Hurley said. This is a loss Hurley says will hurt Davidson County, which already lacks mental health resources. 'We saw lots of transitions during COVID. We saw [fewer] therapists, and the way we met needs changed. It's been hard to come back from some of those things with the lack of therapists available,' Hurley said. Though Family Services of Davidson County will no longer provide clinical counseling and other community services, Hurley says DC Connect is on standby to help community members find alternatives. 'We have , , . is [a federally qualified health center] that offers behavioral health, and they have a great provider there for children, but they are, of course, lacking in licensed clinical behavioral health as well,' Hurley said. If you're looking for other counseling services in Davidson County, reach out to or call (336) 243-3222. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Irish Independent
2 days ago
- Business
- Irish Independent
RTÉ admits an overrun of almost €1m on another IT system budget at Oireachtas committee
RTÉ representatives, including the director general Kevin Bakhurst, appeared before the Oireachtas Media Committee where they were quizzed on a failed IT system that resulted in a €3.6m write down. However, the committee was told there was another IT project, this time a channel management system (CMS), that went over budget by €900,000. The revelation came in an answer to Social Democrats TD Sinead Gibney, who asked were there other IT systems that ran into issues. In response, RTÉ's chief financial officer Mari Hurley said that the CMS had gone over budget. 'I conducted the exercise in terms of reviewing projects greater than €500,000 since 2020. There was one additional project, which went on the list to the department [of media], which was a channel management system,' Ms Hurley said. 'If you compare its spend, relative to its initial budget, it overran by €900,000.' Ms Hurley also told the committee that this resulted in an impairment taken in 2019 of €390,000. The CMS is now in use, Mr Bakhurst told committee members. In a statement to the Irish Independent, RTÉ said 'the replacement of RTÉ's channel management system project – an important strategic project – is one of the projects that was funded from the proceeds of RTÉ's land sale in 2017'. The national broadcaster said during the testing stages of the project in 2019, a number of issues came to light that could not be resolved by the appointed vendor. ADVERTISEMENT As a result, RTÉ decided to terminate the contract with the vendor in December 2019 which resulted in the €390,000 write off. RTÉ confirmed that before work on the project began, a 'competitive public procurement process' took place. When the contract for vendor one was terminated, the project was then awarded to the second vendor to complete the project. 'The overrun on the CMS project of €900,000 was due to vendor two being more expensive and the delays due to the above issues,' RTÉ said. 'However, this project was one of 39 capital projects completed or being implemented by RTÉ since January 2020 costing a total of c.€57m and with a total variance to the initial budget approved of less than €0.5m.' Speaking after the committee hearing, Ms Gibney said it was 'simply not good enough for these financial matters to be merely noted in RTÉ's accounts' and that issues like this 'should be highlighted with the government'. She added: 'Just weeks after it emerged RTÉ had to write-down €3.6m due to a partly failed IT project, we learn today of another waste of money at the station in recent years. 'It is particularly shocking this matter has only come to light now, given management's pledge to oversee a new culture of transparency and accountability at RTÉ following a litany of controversies, which have undermined public confidence in the broadcaster.' It comes as disgruntled former RTÉ employees wrote to the committee with concerns on bogus self-employment and religious content they wanted politicians to raise. The former employees outlined their concerns and issues with the broadcaster in the hopes politicians would raise them with RTÉ top brass. This correspondence meant committee chair Alan Kelly had to issue an additional warning at the start of the meeting, saying politicians were not to identify any individuals or entities during the meeting. 'I'd like to remind all members that the names of individuals or identifiable entities or any personal information relating to them should not be discussed publicly in today's session. If it strays into that, unfortunately I will have to intercept and ask you to desist,' he said. However, some of the correspondence was rejected by the committee after it sought legal advice. TDs and senators on the committee decided to reject some of the letters as they included possibly defamatory statements. Some of the former employees are caught up in legal cases with the broadcaster. During the committee hearing, Mr Bakhurst said he was 'infuriated' by the coverage of the promotional video for RTÉ news and current affairs. It was reported that RTÉ staff were angry at a number of issues, including the use of extras in the video who acted as journalists in the newsroom. In response to a question from Fianna Fáil TD Peter 'Chap' Cleere, Mr Bakhurst said that 'a significant amount of the press coverage has been totally inaccurate about it'. He added that two plants were taken from somewhere else in RTÉ for shooting the video and were used to cover up electrical points.
