
Stephen Jones
Stephen is The Grocer’s senior retail reporter. Based in the north, he leads our coverage of major supermarkets Morrisons, Asda, Iceland and Booths. As well as specialist retailers including Holland & Barrett and Hotel Chocolat.
Closely involved with the Grocer 33 survey, he conducts weekly interviews with supermarket managers around the UK, as well as leading the coverage of The Grocer’s Store Manager Of The Year competition – a personal highlight of his role.
He’s a specialist in retail experience and his reporting keenly follows new store formats, store design and loyalty programmes. This has led him to break several notable consumer scoops including the launch of Waitrose’s first ever meal deal, and Booths decision to strip out self-service checkouts, alongside others.
Prior to joining The Grocer in December 2022, he was transportation reporter at Business Insider, where he covered the global operations of major automakers, airlines and global shipping. He first joined Insider in July 2021 as a careers reporter.
Before that he spent three years covering business, retail, and leadership for Management Today. He also spent a short period as a match day reporter for the Non-League paper.
Contact info
- Tel:
- 01293 610272
- Email:
- stephen.jones@thegrocer.co.uk
- News
Iceland hails ‘life-saving’ partnership with CALM to break the stigma of suicide
During the two-year partnership Iceland’s charitable foundation has supported the rollout of CALM’s helpline and a new mental health first-aid course through fundraising and in-store awareness campaigns
- News
Fortnum & Mason reveals winners of challenger brand discovery scheme
Ten winning small producers including Crwst, Gingerbread World and Umami Bros will be stocked by the retailer from September
- News
Walmart launches major push to recruit UK suppliers for e-commerce marketplace
Walmart has established a new seller office in London as part of a major push to recruit UK food and drink suppliers for its e-commerce marketplaces across the Americas
- News
Waitrose expands MyWaitrose loyalty programme with ‘Little Treats’ rewards
Waitrose is set to expand its MyWaitrose loyalty programme with a new ‘Little Treats’ pilot scheme offering members rewards when they reach specific spending thresholds
- Grocer 33
Ben Sheppard of Waitrose Southend-on-Sea on seaside retail and James Bailey’s departure
Shopping patterns are different at the seaside, Waitrose’s winning store manager says
- Comment & Opinion
Asda turnaround showing ‘green shoots’ but remains a very leafy plant
Asda has finally completed its mammoth Project Future IT overhaul, but the pressure is on Allan Leighton to show his turnaround plan has legs
- News
Asda ‘totally green’ after best quarterly results since 2024
Asda’s sales continued to decline during the second quarter of 2025. However, like-for-like sales were down by 0.2%, a much slower rate
- News
Holland & Barrett promotes Anthony Houghton to group CEO to ‘accelerate’ growth
Houghton will take on the position from October while Vineta Bajaj joins as new CFO, replacing Nick Allen who has left the business to pursue other opportunities
- Comment & Opinion
Holland & Barrett’s tie-up with Co-op is a healthy win-win
Health and wellness specialist Holland & Barrett has launched branded concessions in 125 Co-op stores
- News
Iceland Foods rebrands Bonus Card scheme in major new loyalty push
Iceland Foods has overhauled its loyalty programme, rebranding the Bonus Card as the Bonus Club while introducing enhanced monetary rewards and third-party partnerships
- News
Hotel Chocolat opens ‘immersive’ new café concept in Manchester
The new flagship store format opened in Manchester earlier this year, to spearhead a new expansion plan under Mars
- Grocer 33
James Reid of Waitrose South Woodford on winning with a new team
The Waitrose deputy store manager on retailing in Woodford, the heatwave and NPD
- News
James Bailey steps down as Waitrose MD after five-and-a-half years
James Bailey will step down as managing director of Waitrose on 30 September after five-and-a-half years in the role
- News
Waitrose upgrades app with ‘in-store’ mode to boost shopping experience
Waitrose has enhanced its MyWaitrose app with a new ‘In-store Mode’ that uses location data to improve the shopping experience, including a shopping list function that checks product availability at specific stores.
- News
Morrisons celebrates first graduates from its new leadership school
Over 180 employees have graduated from Morrisons’ new Ken Morrison Leadership School, a talent development programme personally championed by CEO Rami Baitiéh to fast-track staff into leadership positions
- News
Morrisons canteen staff call off strike after accepting new pay offer
GMB Scotland organiser John McCartney claimed the mostly women workers were being unfairly treated
- Grocer 33
M&S named best supermarket in Leicester as it takes first Grocer 33 win
In only its second appearance as a guest retailer M&S scored 90 points in our mystery shopping competition
- Grocer 33
How Fosse Park became the first M&S Grocer 33 store of the week
Twenty-nine-year M&S veteran Wesley Kachela reflects on the Leicester store’s historic milestone
- News
Iceland offers £1 reward to customers who spot shoplifters in store
The frozen grocer is launching a new initiative to combat shoplifting by offering customers a £1 bonus card top-up for reporting theft incidents to staff, as the retailer faces annual losses of over £20m from retail crime
- News
Iceland to expand Amazon grocery partnership to ‘many more’ stores in 2025
Iceland first began listing its groceries on Amazon in September 2023