All articles by Charlie Wright – Page 22
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NewsRecord fall in family spending power as inflation takes toll
Inflation combined with widespread freezes on pay has led to a record fall in the average family’s spending power, new data suggests. UK families have £8 a week less discretionary income than this time last year, according to Asda’s monthly Income Tracker.
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Comment & Opinion
Family misfortunes
Snow returned to Grocer Towers today, albeit briefly – but the chill that ran down many a back earlier this week had nothing to do with the mercury falling. GDP shrank by 0.5% in the previous quarter, we learned on Tuesday, confounding predictions – or maybe they were just hopes ...
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News
Sara Lee is target for Brazilian meat group
Sara Lee has emerged as a takeover target for Brazilian beef processor JBS. The US manufacturer, which is currently valued at around $12.5bn (£7.88bn), could be broken up in the event of a takeover, with private equity giant Blackstone reportedly poised to bid for its drinks business.
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Comment & Opinion
Moment of clarity
North of the border devotees of Robert Burns were last night raising a glass of something medicinal to toast the great poet and help wash down the traditional feast of sheep’s stomach and mashed turnip. Maybe some subversive types even sparked a cigar.
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Comment & Opinion
Shake your moneymaker
They say money talks and bullsh—er, other stuff walks. We saw on Friday evening how cash is king, when Ranjit Boparan drove a coach and horses through the proposed Essenta tie-up. Specifically, a coach filled with money (reportedly lent to him by the good folk at Goldman Sachs).
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NewsQuorn sold to private equity group in £205m deal
Premier Foods has confirmed the sale of its meat-free business in the latest bid by the manufacturer to cut its billion-pound debt. The Quorn and Cauldron meat-free brands have been bought by Exponent Private Equity in a deal worth £205m, with the transaction set to complete by March.
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Comment & OpinionCritical Eye... on druid shrubberies and underwater beehives
Bees know the score. One sign (among many) of the coming apocalypse is their mass disappearance, though boffins don't know if they've been poisoned by pesticides, have wearily relocated underwater or been imprisoned by wasps.
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NewsInnocent founder Reed buys into DNA tester
Innocent Drinks founder Richard Reed has bought a stake in food testing company Geneius.
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NewsStuart Rose becomes non-exec at South Africa's Woolworths
Sir Stuart Rose has bagged a new role with South African retailer Woolworths. The former Marks & Spencer boss becomes a non-executive director of the food and clothing chain.
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Comment & Opinion
Above the argy-bargy
Sometimes it’s better to rise above it. The unseemly spat over pricing between some of the UK’s largest supermarkets rolled on this week, with Tesco unveiling new press ads having a pop at Asda’s 10% price guarantee.
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Comment & Opinion
The battle for Northern's soul
The time has nearly run out for Ranjit Boparan to put up or shut up and clarify whether he intends to table a bid for Northern Foods.
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NewsBoparan ‘in talks’ with Northern’s pension trustees
Ranjit Singh Boparan has entered talks with the trustees of Northern Foods’ pension scheme, meaning the chicken magnate could yet launch a formal bid ahead of this week’s deadline.
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News'Open your world' says new Heineken slogan
Heineken has unveiled an enigmatic new strapline – ‘Open your world’ – in the latest phase of a major multimedia advertising push.
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Comment & Opinion
When good men do nothing
They say evil prospers when good men do nothing. And by doing very little today, the coalition has managed to upset almost everybody. Retailers in England and Wales are to be banned from selling booze below the cost of duty plus VAT.
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Comment & Opinion
Unhappy Mondays
Today is Blue Monday. That’s the most depressing day of the year, if you believe ‘research’ paid for by online travel agents that want you to book some winter sun. Perhaps that explains the tetchiness in the weekend’s exchanges between Tesco and Asda over the latter’s 10% pledge.
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NewsKraft dismisses talk of Green & Black’s sale
Kraft Foods has moved to dismiss speculation it could sell Green & Black’s, insisting the organic chocolate brand "is in good hands".
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Comment & Opinion
Ice, lemons and hot pork bellies
Last weekend in the FA Cup there was the usual talk about bog-like lower-league pitches being “a great leveller”. Top clubs don’t fancy having lumps kicked out of them on swampy pitches, so there’s more chance of a giantkilling.
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Comment & Opinion
Justin's cracking Christmas
No wonder Justin King was looking so pleased with life at today’s 90-minute briefing in Holborn, attended by The Grocer’s newshounds.
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NewsSainsbury’s picks up festive share in latest Kantar figures
Sainsbury’s has again emerged as a Christmas winner by upping its market share over the key festive period, new figures suggest.
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Comment & Opinion
Bright Youngs things
Hyperbole is without a doubt the worst crime any retail chief can commit. Well, perhaps that’s an exaggeration. Dalton Philips avoided too many verbal fireworks when he said Morrisons was “a nose ahead of the market” after reporting a solid, if unspectacular, 1% rise in like-for-likes for the Christmas period.