Tesco tightens its grip on UK market

Tesco has tightened its stranglehold on the UK grocery market, fresh figures showed today.

The supermarket giant saw its share of the market increase to 31.6% during the 12 weeks to August 13 – up from 30.3% during the same period last year.

The survey by Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) Worldpanel also showed the race for second place is hotting up with Asda consolidating its 16.6% share in second spot.

Meanwhile, resurgent J Sainsbury was biting at the heels of the Wal-Mart-owned chain in third place with a UK market share of 16%, compared to 15.7% at the same time last year.

Bradford-based Morrisons, which acquired rival Safeway in 2005, slipped slightly to 11% from 11.2% despite revealing a 6.1% jump in like-for-like sales earlier this month.

Waitrose enjoyed an improvement – up from 3.6% to 3.8% – while Aldi’s share was also on the rise, from 2.3% to 2.5%, during the spell.