Boost for Ocado thanks to M&S

Ocado’s retail business saw sales accelerate in the third quarter as weekly customer orders continued to rise.

The results were the first for Ocado Retail, the online grocer’s retail arm created as part of its £750 million joint venture with Marks & Spencer.

M&S products will be available through Ocado from September 2020 at the latest.

Weekly orders through Ocado rose 12.1% as it was buoyed by increased delivery slots during the period to September 1.

Melanie Smith, former strategy director at M&S who took the reins at the joint venture last month, said the results highlighted Ocado’s “resilience” following the fire at its Andover facility.

Ocado posted a £142.8m loss in the half-year to June after it was hit by the impact of the fire at the Hampshire site.