CIO 100 COMPANIES IN Retail

11. Tesco

The big story in Tesco over the last year has been its ongoing growth and consolidation as a market leader to rival Wal-Mart in the US through increased global expansion. Most recently, that expansion saw it announce it will enter the US market in 2007 with a new ‘Fresh & Easy Neighbourhood Market’ brand based on its local ‘Express’ format.

17. Co-operative Group

As this year’s CIO special report went to press, the UK’s top two co-operatives were in the midst of agreeing a merger that will form the world’s largest consumer co-operative group. The July merger of Rochdale-based United Co-operatives, which has 930,000 members, and the Manchester based Co-operative Group, with 3.5 million members, makes it responsible for more than 80 per cent of the UK’s co-operative retail trade.

19. J Sainsbury

J Sainsbury has rarely been out of the news in the last few years and its latest headlines involved the possible takeover by private equity investors of the supermarket chain. US-based private equity consortium CCVC Capital Partners, Blackstone and TPG Capital pulled out in early April after it became clear the Sainsbury’s board would not back their proposed offer.

22. John Lewis Partnership

The John Lewis Partnership had sales last year of £6.4 billion, 11 per cent up on the previous year. It consists of two trading divisions, John Lewis department stores and the Waitrose supermarket chain. Both businesses are underpinned by a largely common technical infrastructure, including payroll and accounting systems.

30. Alliance Boots

Just seven months after Boots completed its £7 billion merger with Alliance Unichem on 31 July 2006, the combined company became the target of a private equity bid. Alliance Boots’ deputy chairman Stefano Pessina, along with private equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, first launched a £10 billion offer to buy the retail and pharmaceutical wholesale company in March.

32. BUPA

BUPA had a very busy and successful year according to group IS director John Lister. “Over the last two years we have done a lot of planning as well as development. Now our new infrastructure and architecture is coming together, and there has been a lot of delivery both inside the UK and in Australia, Spain, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia and Thailand,” he says.

33. Compass Group

Compass Group is a major foodservice company, with annual revenues of around £11 billion. With an extensive geographic and market sector coverage and employing over 400,000 people, the group’s business is diverse, operating in different regions and cultural environments.

34. WH Smith

WH Smith is one of the UK’s leading retail groups with 543 high street stores and 129 travel stores at airports, train stations and motorway services across the UK, plus an online retail outlet with WH Smith Direct.

40. ASDA

Wal-Mart owned ASDA has been celebrating its performance in the first quarter of the year. According to figures from retail market specialist TNS, ASDA is the UK’s fastest growing retailer, showing a nine percent improvement on figures last year.

45. Serco Group

Serco is an international services company that operates in markets as diverse as defence, transport, government, science and education. Although it still generates 75 per cent of its sales from the UK market, it won a raft of overseas contracts during 2006 such as a deal valued at Aus$155 million over five years to run Acacia Prison in Western Australia.

46. Home Retail Group

The Home Retail Group came into existence last autumn after demerging from Great Universal Stores, which was wound up after being in business since 1900. Its shares began trading on the London Stock Exchange as of 11 October 2006 and its operating divisions comprise Argos, a multi-channel retailer of general merchandise, and Homebase, the UK’s second largest home improvement retailer.

50. Somerfield

Somerfield is already reaping the rewards of a seven-year deal to outsource the management of its entire IT infrastructure to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), signed at the end of last year. At the start of this year, TCS started answering all Somerfield’s IT helpdesk calls from a facility in India.

52. SPAR UK

SPAR launched the first of several technology pilots at its Euro SPAR convenience store in Belfast in January. The store is testing self checkout and electronic shelf-edge labelling in an effort to prove the business benefits for small stores.

53. Marks & Spencer Group

Marks & Spencer has continued its remarkable turnaround over the last 12 months and technology is likely to play an increasingly important role in the year ahead. The appointment of IT heavyweight Darrell Stein as IT director at the retailer last year reflects the importance of technology at the store.

55. Kingfisher

Kingfisher is an international retailer with significant UK DIY and trade brands, B&Q and Screwfix Direct, in its stable. The company operates over 700 stores in 11 countries in Europe and Asia.

65. Woolworths Group

Woolworths’ high street chain continues to struggle and started this year with declining like-for-like sales. In contrast, the variety retailer’s multi-channel operation is booming. The response of customers to Woolworths’ multi-channel offer and the launch of the Big Red Book catalogue has been positive.

91. Nestlé

Swiss-owned Nestlé has an impressive portfolio of leading branded food and beverage products, including Nescafé, KitKat, Ski, Carnation, Buitoni and Herta. Strong growth in its food and beverages business helped it reach a record full-year net profit this year.

93. Comet Group

Comet is the second largest electrical retailer in the UK and part of Kesa Electricals, a pan-European group operating in seven countries.

98. Arcadia Group

With more than 2,000 outlets in high streets and shopping centres throughout the country, Arcadia Group is one of the UK’s largest clothing retailers with brands including Burton, Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge, Evans, Wallis and Outfit.

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