Marks & Spencer has poached Greencore’s chief financial officer Eoin Tonge as the troubled retailing giant continues to seek a change in its fortunes.

UK retailers’ Christmas sales were hit by brutal price pressure and the shift to e-commerce, rounding out their worst year on record.

Britain’s major supermarkets are forecast to report lacklustre Christmas sales this week, reflecting weak economic growth and comparisons with generally solid festive results in 2018.

Let’s start this week with a couple of questions. What is the world’s best-value wine? And what is the world’s best-value fine wine for long ageing?

A fair question to ask about any service or product is: Who’s asked for it? From whom, in other words, comes the demand that will give the supplier a viable business?

New research has found that the number of food staples fortified with folic acid in Irish supermarkets is continuing to decline despite its proven role in preventing severe birth defects.

World Vegan Day on Friday celebrates animal-free food and clothing. While researching vegan options in Cork city, the wide variety on offer — cappuccinos, lattés and hot chocolates, milk substitutes such as oat, coconut, and soya alternatives — suggests huge demand.

Tesco will next week become the first major British supermarket group to offer a subscription customer loyalty scheme, the latest weapon in its fight to stem the market share gains of German-owned discounters.

The season of mists and mellow fruitfulness — John Keats had it right about autumn.

Inspired by the ‘gig economy’, The Warehouse is set in a near future world that is horribly believable – zero rights, low pay, devices tracking your every move. Author Rob Hart hopes it will be a wake up call for us all, writes Suzanne Harrington

Meghan Markle had barely stepped off Elton’s John’s private jet when she shared behind-the-scenes pictures of herself working on her latest charity clothing range.

For this year’s sausage survey we focused on a high proportion of meat. It had to be over 65% — a substantial sausage that would barbecue well in summer, but that also could be simmered gently in a tomato sauce for 15 minutes to make a quick meal — this way, sausages don’t have to be grilled/fried first.

It’s being proven again and again that a most effective way to train people to do something is to show how they can save money, however small the amount, by co-operating.

Fashion chain Next shrugged off Brexit retail gloom with a surprise 4% rise in full-price sales, helping drive its shares to their highest in a year.

We are on the cusp of a revolution in consumer tastes, which will rock the agri-food industry to its core, regardless of the Climate Change Advisory committee recommendations for a substantial reduction in the cattle herd to meet Ireland’s 2030 greenhouse gas emissions targets.

The chief executive of Marks & Spencer is to assume direct leadership of the British retailer’s troubled clothing business after sacking the division’s boss just two days after publicly criticising chronic product availability.

The head of clothing and home at Marks & Spencer has quit after less than two years with the company.

A delicious selection of ice creams brought smiles to the faces of all ages. We steered away from popular brands we had tried before, aiming this time at more luxury, and adult tastes, except for inviting one discerning eight-year-old.

Champagne is a drink that works all year round, as welcome on a chilly Christmas morning as on a hot day in June.

13 staff at Cork city’s Marks & Spencer's store have been told the company acted fairly toward them after they did not attend a shift during high wind and heavy snowfall last year.

Gardai are appealing for help in tracing the owner of a trolley load of shopping in an investigation which has been described as 'bizarre'

From fruity picnic cups to savvy summer hampers, Esther N McCarthy picks the best buys of the week

A young Cork woman who has been convicted of shoplifting more than 100 times was back before the court for sentencing on another spree of thefts.

If winter’s trend for leopard left you hungry for more, then welcome to the jungle, because designers went wild animal print this season! Leopard, snake, tiger, cheetah and zebra prints all stalked the spring summer 2019 runways, so unleash your inner animal and take a walk on the wild side. As a new neutral or the ultimate statement piece, here’s our favourite ways to wear animal print for spring, writes Carolyn Moore

Marks & Spencer and Ocado are discussing a joint venture that could expand the retailer’s home-delivery operations and further shake up the rattled UK grocery sector.

With spring in the air it could be the right time to give your home a lift with these bright ideas, writes Esther N McCarthy.

UK online supermarket Ocado said investment in its partnership deals would hit short-term profits, while remaining tight-lipped about media reports of tie-up talks with Marks & Spencer.

Marks & Spencer is expected to report another fall in underlying sales in both clothing and food in its Christmas quarter, while the major grocers are forecast to show a slowdown in growth as the discounters march on.

The town of Roth in Germany had a nice tradition of asking children to hang messages for Santa on the town’s Christmas tree, writes Brian Keegan

A sperm whale found dead in a national park in Indonesia had nearly 6kg of plastic waste in his stomach — including 115 plastic cups; four plastic bottles; 25 plastic bags; two flip-flops; a nylon sack and more than 1,000 other plastic pieces.

A filling of sausage meat enrobed in flaky/puff pastry is unlikely to be low in fat or calories, but on a winter’s day, how bad can it be?

British clothing retailer Next has reported a slowdown in sales growth in its latest quarter, which was characterised by unseasonably warm weather, sending its shares and those of its rivals lower.

Nuts are healthy, right?

Here are all the latest headlines this lunchtime...

Irish stores will not be affected by Marks & Spencer’s plan to close more than 100 of its clothing and home stores in the next five years, the company has said.