Breakfast briefing: Retail news on Asda and consumer confidence

Asda to bring food banks back into supermarkets

Walmart-owned Asda has reportedly reversed its decision of scrapping food banks from all its UK stores, The Guardian reported citing a source inside the company.

The grocer is to re-install permanent collection points for food banks and other charities after deciding to remove them last week.

A briefing released to staff said: “We are reinstating all previously existing unmanned collections in store, eg Guide Dogs for the Blind collections, food banks, Marie Curie collection trays. This is about re-inviting existing charity partners back into store, not about actively going out and recruiting any new unmanned collections at this stage.”

British consumer morale dips in February on economic woes

UK consumer confidence dropped to zero in February from +4 in January, according to GfK survey.

This figure was the lowest since December 2014, mainly due to economic uncertainties.

"Despite the positive impact of continued low interest rates and subdued inflation on our day-to-day household budgets, the feeble outlook for growth and a variety of economic uncertainties since the start of the year has depressed our New Year optimism," said Joe Staton, head of market dynamics at GfK.