Breakfast briefing: Retail news on Tesco, Morrisons, Apple and Foyles

Tesco could shed 10,000 positions

Troubled Tesco is poised to axe up to 10,000 jobs as part of its turnaround plans. It is thought that up to 6,000 jobs could be cut from the grocer’s head offices and 43 stores that it is closing, while the rest are at risk from a dramatic overhaul of how the company runs its stores.

The managers affected, who hold positions between store manager and shop assistants, will be offered alternative roles, but it is not clear if these will be on the same level of pay or even full-time, the Telegraph reported.

Archie Norman enters race to be Tesco chairman

Tesco has reportedly approached ITV boss Archie Norman to become its next chairman as the embattled grocer seeks a replacement for Sir Richard Broadbent, who resigned in October. The supermarket giant is in ‘active talks’ with the former Conservative MP and Asda boss over the role, according to Sky News. The retailer is said to be keen to decide on its next chairman by the end of the month. John Allan, the former chairman of Dixons Retail, also remains in talks with Tesco’s board about the job, according to a person close to the process.

Morrisons reduces prices on grocery products

Morrisons is slashing prices of 130 items including essentials such as milk, cheese and cornflakes by an average of 22%. All the big four grocers have been investing in price as they aim to claw back ground lost to the discounters.

Apple secretly working on electric car project

Apple is thought to be building an electric car, according to people familiar with the matter. The consumer-electronics giant has put a few hundred employees to work on the secretive project. Steve Zadesky, vice president of iPhone product design, is leading the effort, sources said.

The project is code-named Titan and the vehicle design resembles a minivan, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

Foyles falls into operating loss

Independent bookseller Foyles fell into an operating loss of £600,000 in the year to June 2014, compared with a £100,000 profit a year before. This was due to the relocation of its flagship store to the former Central Saint Martins art school building on Charing Cross Road and the closure of two other shops. Sales increased 2.2% to £23.4m.

PerfectHome fined for taking customers’ house keys

Rent-to-own business PerfectHome has been fined £6,000 in total and ordered to pay £10,000 in costs for making some customers hand over their house keys before it delivered their purchases. Hull magistrates court convicted the high street retailer of aggressive and misleading trading practices after more than 50 sets of house keys were found at its store in the city. It found PerfectHome had misled customers by failing to inform them of the requirement to provide a key before they signed the hire purchase agreement.