The Unofficial Sainsbury's Thread

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m-in-m
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Martin Phillp wrote: Mon 21 Sep, 2020 13.22 I wouldn't be surprised if rent is paid to the parent company from 'Argos Limited' for those concessions. It's no different to commercial radio, where the local businesses that operate the licence pay fees to the larger company such as Global or Bauer, although it's the same overall business moving money across the companies.
Indeed it would make sense that all concessions pay rent which contributes to the profitability of that individual store - otherwise stores potentially become less profitable as there space is eaten up.
Martin Phillp
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In the case of my local Argos concession, while they didn't take much room on the shop floor (it was the area used by DVD/CD and books), they had to knock a wall down to which was a former storage area so Argos stock could be stored.
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all new Phil
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Not sure I’m following this logic. It’s owned by Sainsburys. It’s as likely to pay rent as the deli counter.
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WillPS
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all new Phil wrote: Tue 22 Sep, 2020 01.10 Not sure I’m following this logic. It’s owned by Sainsburys. It’s as likely to pay rent as the deli counter.
It's about cost centres. Same reason BBC Studios end up paying BBC Studioworks to rent a studio for a programme to be shown on BBC One. All of those BBC operations are part of the BBC, but each has its own budget to balance.

The deli is slightly different as it operates as a department rather than a self-managing organisation, but if they were minded to (or there was a significant tax advantage) they could TUPE staff over to JS Counters Ltd, then have all sales from the delis returned to that limited company (minus a txn fee) and a rental the other way - like Lloyds Pharmacy do now.

Not sure what the legality would be regarding having Deli staff also respond to till calls...
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Martin Phillp
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I saw an Argos employee in their uniform shelf stacking for Sainsbury's today. Not sure how that works legally?
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all new Phil
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They’re all employed by Sainsburys. There are no legal issues with it. I’ve worked in a similar setup where we had a franchise branded coffee shop as part of a wider offer, and all the costs and all the takings get lumped together. Just because the BBC have some unnecessarily convoluted way of accounting things doesn’t mean that’s how it is in the real business world.
DavidTRex
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all new Phil wrote: Wed 23 Sep, 2020 02.08 They’re all employed by Sainsburys. There are no legal issues with it. I’ve worked in a similar setup where we had a franchise branded coffee shop as part of a wider offer, and all the costs and all the takings get lumped together. Just because the BBC have some unnecessarily convoluted way of accounting things doesn’t mean that’s how it is in the real business world.
That's exactly how lots of business are set up - You see "Part of x group" they are trading companies with separate registrations at HMRC. They are associated companies and there are a lot of rules surrounding things like Employment allowance and apprenticeship levy payments for them.

I am employed by a division - but the work I do for education or healthcare has to be invoiced even though we are still with the same employer - its about making sure each divisions costs are controlled and assigned accordingly. Really common
all new Phil
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That might be common but it’s nothing like the Sainsburys / Argos setup.
Martin Phillp
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Sainsbury's Bureau De Change concessions are starting to reopen. Only one in London mind.

https://www.sainsburysbank.co.uk/travel ... ACQ_200901
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Whataday
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I know a few members of Argos staff that were redeployed to Sainsburys Click & Collect due to the huge demand over lockdown. Demand for the service is still strong and I'd imagine they see this as a priority over re-opening Argos stores which probably make relatively less.
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WillPS
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all new Phil wrote: Wed 23 Sep, 2020 12.26 That might be common but it’s nothing like the Sainsburys / Argos setup.
You seem very sure of this somehow...

As it happens, I think the intention is for Argos to operate like any department within Sainsburys - they are some way away from that though.
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