“BHS pulled back from the brink” writes The Daily Mail, after landlords backed its plan to reduce rents on half of its store estate. An overwhelming 95% of creditors backed BHS’s company voluntary arrangement which will reduce rents on 87 stores.

“BHS saved from collapse by creditors in crucial vote” is the similarly dramatic headline in The Telegraph, while The Financial Times (£) says the retailer has been “thrown a lifeline” after its creditors approved the rescue plan.

The boss of BHS has asked for the British public to give the struggling department store a “second chance” after it won a stay of execution, writes The Guardian. Darren Topp, chief executive of BHS, said: “There will be no popping champagne corks tonight. We would like the British public to give us a second chance. Come and see our stores and you will be surprised.”

It may have cut a deal with its landlords, but BHS has only six months to reach an agreement with the Pension Protection Fund or it could face collapse. The protection fund has given BHS until September 30 to negotiate a new deal, which must include a significant cash injection, over its pension fund liabilities of up to £571m. (The Times £)

Jonathan Guthrie writing in The Financial Times (£) says “It will take more than a regulatory pit stop to turn chain round”. He writes: “A recovery will be much harder to achieve. The shops are tatty and clothing lines dowdy. Department stores themselves have fallen from fashion with shoppers who can find a greater variety of goods more cheaply online.”

The other big story of the day was Premier Foods’ rejection of two approaches by US food giant McCormick. Most of the papers focus on Premier’s surging share price after news of the approach. “Shares in Premier Foods surged to a near two-year high after it revealed it had rejected two takeover offers from McCormick”, writes The Financial Times (£), “Shares in Mr Kipling owner surge after bids rejected” writes The Guardian, while The Telegraph and The Daily Mail also lead on the share price jump with the latter headlined “Mr Kipling’s exceedingly fine victory”.

“You can’t have your cake and eat it, Premier tells suitor” is The Times (£) headline on the story, which adds: “It was once dubbed Britain’s biggest zombie company, but there is clearly life in Premier Foods.”

Patrick Hosking writing in The Times (£) notes that Premier’s board is putting a great deal of faith in future growth – or betting on “some jam tomorrow” as he puts it. “Premier’s vast debts and pension shortfall make it a massively geared equity play. It wouldn’t take the sale of many more slices of Mr Kipling to make McCormick’s offer look very niggardly. It wouldn’t take many fewer slices to make it fabulously generous.”

Elsewhere, Britain is becoming reliant on imported fruit and vegetables after losing thousands of orchards and farms dedicated to horticulture, a study has found. Only a third of apples and one in six pears and plums eaten in Britain are grown here. (The Times £)

Fruit juices, smoothies and fruit drinks marketed to children and their parents contain “unacceptably high” levels of sugar, often as much in one small carton or bottle as a child should consume in a day, according to research. (The Guardian)

Finally, The Guardian has an in-depth profile of Brewdog today entitled: “The aggressive, outrageous, infuriating (and ingenious) rise of BrewDog”. The paper writes: “Once known more for its stunts than its beers, the ‘punk’ Scottish brewer is now the UK’s fastest-growing drinks company. You have a problem with that?”

Topics