Tesco win new trade from UK rivals

Tesco’s dominance of the food retail sector in the UK strengthened last month when it won further share from rivals, new figures showed today.

The UK’s number one supermarket built on its strong Christmas growth to capture a record 29.1% share of all grocery sales, 2.3% higher than a year ago.

Asda also built on its festive performance – but rivals such as Kwik Save and Safeway continued to lose out, according to analysts TNS Superpanel.

Safeway was taken over by Morrisons last March and the combined group’s market share fell to 12.4% from 14.5%.

Edward Garner, communications director of the TNS Superpanel, said today’s announcement of a bid for Somerfield by Icelandic group Baugur could present a threat to Tesco in the convenience store sector.

Baugur, which will take control of the Iceland chain when it completes its takeover of owner Big Food Group this week, could try to tie Iceland and Somerfield together.

Mr Garner said: “This offers a strong potential growth for Somerfield, and could see them becoming an increasingly significant player in the convenience space.”

Tesco has been boosting its presence in the sector by expanding its Express format.

Today’s figures also showed that Somerfield increased its market share by 0.3% to 3.6% – although including the Kwik Save chain the combined group’s share fell by 0.4% to 5.4%.

Sainsbury’s continued its decline, falling to 16%, but at a slower pace than last time.