Morrisons has agreed to sell its petrol forecourts to Motor Fuel Group for £2.5bn in return for a 20% stake in the service stations operator (The Times £). Morrisons has agreed to sell its petrol forecourts to Motor Fuel Group (MFG) as part of a £2.5bn deal that will also help drive the provision of electric vehicle charging (Sky News). Private-equity owned UK supermarket chain Wm Morrison has agreed a £2.5bn deal to sell its petrol forecourt business to sister company Motor Fuel Group, in a move that will help Morrisons shore up its balance sheet (The Financial Times £)

Diageo boss Debra Crew has vowed to get the drinks business back on track after a “perfect storm” in Latin America and customers trading down to cheaper spirits in the US pushed down profits (The Financial Times £). The chief executive of Diageo has revealed plans to drastically reduce stock levels in its struggling Latin American region, where a “perfect storm” led to sales and profit targets being missed (The Times £).

Pressure is mounting on Diageo’s chief executive after the drinks giant posted sliding sales and profits. (The Daily Mail)

“Having succeeded Sir Ivan Menezes in the saddest of circumstances, Diageo CEO Debra Crew already put herself under a fair bit of pressure,” writes Alistair Osborne in The Times. “Crew is rightly “not satisfied. Ditto the shareholders. In short, she still has plenty to prove. Unluckily for her, Diageo investors are used to tastier tipples from the chief mixologist.” (The Times £)

John Lewis will return to profit this year, its chairman Dame Sharon White has said, as the retailer prepares to cut as many as 11,000 jobs as part of a drastic turnaround plan (The Telegraph £). Retailer John Lewis will return to profit this year, its chairman Dame Sharon White has declared (The Daily Mail)

Shoppers are turning to packed lunches in an attempt to try and keep their budgets in line, with 86 million more lunchboxes brought to work and school last year, new research suggests (Sky News). Workers brought 86 million packed lunches into the office last year, as Britons shunned high street treats amid the cost of living crisis (The Times £).

UK shop price inflation eased sharply in January to its lowest rate in almost two years as retailers heavily discounted goods during a weak sales period, industry data showed. (The Financial Times £)

Post-Brexit controls on food, plant and animal imports to Britain from the EU have come into force (The BBC). Thousands of delicatessens and other specialist food shops have said new border rules that come in from Wednesday are likely to mean reduced choice of products for consumers. (The Guardian)

Buying bigger packs of products including toilet roll, cheese, laundry detergent pods or discounted ketchup may not always mean shoppers get a better deal, according to a competition watchdog investigation of grocery prices. (The Guardian)

The pressure of people’s finances has been underlined by a cut in spending on their pets, according to Pets at Home, which has been forced to cut its forecast for annual profits after animal owners bought fewer big-ticket items before Christmas. (The Times £)

Sales have surged at the owner of Upper Crust and Caffè Ritazza as people return to offices and prioritise holidays (The Times £). SSP Group revenues jumped at the end of 2023, as its travel hub operations were boosted by a continued rebound in air and railway travel (The Daily Mail).

A record one in five drinkers gave up alcohol for Dry January, a British Beer and Pub Association survey suggests. (The BBC)

UK’s vape ban highlights benefit of big tobacco’s run-off strategy. Tobacco companies, which have focused on non-disposable e-cigarettes, may see the ban as a net positive for their smoke-free businesses. Even with less volume pick-up from their less colourful devices, their market positions stay intact. (The Financial Times £)

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