Top shareholders in Unilever have warned the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant over its possible flight from London — claiming it would be part of a ruse to make the company safe from foreign predators. Directors of the £112bn group are expected to hold a vote in the next few weeks to decide whether to move its headquarters to Rotterdam — scrapping its joint head office in London (The Times £). Consumer goods titan Unilever will lose vital access to finance if it pulls out of London, major investors have warned (The Daily Mail).

On Wednesday shareholders in Tesco and Booker, the country’s largest wholesaler, will vote on whether to approve a takeover that will create an enlarged company with annual revenues of nearly £60bn. One top ten shareholder in Booker said he thought that it was a done deal as if there was a significant rebellion looming, Tesco would have moved by now to sweeten the deal (The Times £). Judgment day nears on Tesco’s planned £3.7bn takeover of wholesaler Booker, writes The Daily Mail. Tesco faces a nail-biting wait to see if shareholders back its proposed takeover of wholesaler Booker.

Chicken tycoon Ranjit Boparan is considering casting off another piece of his empire with the potential £50m sale of Irish fish supplier Donegal Catch. The 2 Sisters Food Group, owned by the Midlands-based entrepreneur, is believed to be working with corporate finance advisers from Clearwater International on a possible disposal of the business (The Times £). Boparan’s firm is desperate for extra money following a hygiene crisis that saw its plant in West Bromwich shut down for a month last year, after workers were filmed changing dates on food labels and reusing meat that had fallen on the floor (The Daily Mail).

Costa Coffee may have suffered a decline in underlying UK sales in recent months, but one of its main rivals has recorded its 80th quarter in a row of like-for-like sales growth. Caffè Nero will today report UK like-for-like growth of 3.7% in the year to the end of May, falling to about 2.5% in the first six months of the current year. (The Times £)

Pizza Express is converting up to 50 restaurants into live entertainment venues in an attempt to fight back against competition from the likes of Franco Manca as well as the switch to takeaways via the likes of Deliveroo, in a tough business environment that has led a string of rivals in the casual dining sector to close restaurants. (The Guardian)

Jamie Oliver is one of the most famous – and wealthy – celebrity chefs in the country. But now problems in his sprawling business empire have been laid bare. Two of Oliver’s high-profile dining businesses – Jamie’s Italian and upmarket steak chain Barbecoa – have run into trouble, leaving a trail of restaurant closures and hundreds of job losses. (The Daily Mail)

Poundworld is lining up restructuring advisers as the private-equity-owned discount retailer struggles amid “brutal” trading. The chain of more than 350 stores, owned by American buyout titan TPG Capital, is understood to have invited company doctors from firms including Deloitte and Alvarez & Marsal to pitch for the turnaround role. (The Times £)

The Telegraph interviews Ella’s Kitchen boss Mark Cuddigan, who talks about launching products outside its core baby food range and how it is considering its use of plastics and sugar. (The Telegraph)

Locally sourced meat, one of the cornerstones of modern sustainable eating, may soon be out of reach for consumers across the UK as large numbers of small suppliers are forced to close down. (The Guardian)

The UK arm of Toys R Us is on the brink of collapse just two months after the chain won creditor backing for a sweeping restructuring plan to tame its unmanageable rent bill (The Financial Times £). Toys R Us has lined up administrators as fears mount that the UK business will collapse early next week putting up to 3,200 jobs at risk (The Telegraph). Toys R Us is seeking bids for its stores in Continental Europe just hours‎ before it plans to place its British operations into administration. (Sky News)

Starbucks will be the first UK coffee chain to trial a “latte levy” – a 5p charge on takeaway coffee cups – under plans that aim to reduce the overuse and waste of 2.5bn disposable cups every year. (The Guardian)

Rakesh Kapoor, the chief executive of Nurofen-maker Reckitt Benckiser, has defended his takeover record amid reports the company is in the final run-off for Pfizer’s consumer healthcare unit. (The Times £)

Pub group Greene King is attempting to sell seafood restaurant chain Loch Fyne to shrink its exposure to casual dining, industry sources say. The brewer, which also owns Hungry Horse and Chef & Brewer, is understood to be seeking offers for the 34-strong chain. (The Times £)

Warren Buffett, the billionaire who helped assemble food-and-beverage giant Kraft Heinz, will retire from its board as he cuts down on travel commitments (The Telegraph). US billionaire Warren Buffet says his conglomerate has received a profit boost of $29bn (£20bn) as a result of President Donald Trump’s tax reforms, he says. (The BBC)

Investors including George Soros’s family office and David Einhorn have bought tentative stakes in traditional US retailers, in early signs of a contrarian bet on the beleaguered sector as it battles against the onslaught of Amazon. (The Financial Times £)

The high street’s not dead yet, writes The Telegraph, there’s still a place for old-fashioned retail.

International demand Wagyu beef is booming, keeping prices at near record levels even as consumers in its home market of Japan turn to cheaper imports. (The Financial Times £)

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