All articles by Elinor Zuke – Page 17
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News
Hottest Easter since records began puts eggs in meltdown
Easter confectionery sales were "hammered" by the hot weather as shoppers swapped chocolate for a cold beer over the Easter Bank Holiday. As the mercury hit 27.8C, during the hottest Easter since records began, sources revealed Easter...
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Grocer 33
Tesco Extra Cadle, Swansea
The Grocer 33 is a weekly mystery shopping survey, tracking price, service and availability at the five leading grocery retailers: Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose. Each week the winning store manager is interviewed by The Grocer.
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News
EFB snaps up 37 stores from Oddbins administrator
European Food Brokers has bought 37 of the Oddbins stores still open from the off licence chain’s administrator. Deloitte said it was engaged in discussions and “confident of an imminent deal” on the remaining 48 open stores.
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News
HMRC must return its Eastenders raid haul
Customs officials have been ordered to hand back the documents, invoices and computers they seized from six Eastenders cash & carry depots during dawn raids in December after a court ruled that search warrants should not have been granted in the...
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News
'We were the biggest before and we’re still the biggest': an interview with Peter Blakemore
AF Blakemore bought Capper & Co last month, creating a Spar wholesaler with a £1.1bn turnover and a 45% share of Spar. In his first interview since the acquisition, Peter Blakemore talks to Elinor Zuke about the takeover, Spar and Big Society
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News
CJ Lang recruitment drive continues with AM Landsburgh deal
CJ Lang has almost sealed its purchase of Spar retailer AM Landsburgh. The Scottish Spar wholesaler this week confirmed it was in talks with the third-generation family business. CJ Lang will take on 10 Spar stores in Dundee and Fife for...
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News
B&M plans to go south with 30 bargain stores
B&M Retail is hoping to have opened 30 new B&M Bargains stores by the end of the year including one within the M25. The Liverpool-based discounter has 235 stores across the UK, but the estate only currently stretches as far...
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News
Marwood takes up non-executive role in field marketing
Outgoing Spar MD Jerry Marwood has been appointed as a non-executive director of field marketing agency exPD8. He will advise the agency on promotional compliance in c-stores as the agency looks to bolster its presence in grocery....
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News
Nuclear sushi fears unwarranted, say ‘Japanese’ suppliers
UK fans of Japanese cuisine need not fear radiation levels - because the majority of Japanese food imported into the UK doesn't actually come from Japan, importers and wholesalers are stressing.
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Profiles
AG Parfett & Son makes plans for redundancies
AG Parfett & Son has informed staff of plans to make up to 76 redundancies across its six depots. The cash & carry wholesaler decided to lay people off at a board meeting last week. Some roles would be made redundant as a result...
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News
Oddbins staff fury over redundancy pay move
Oddbins could face legal action from long-serving staff after it was revealed they would not be paid statutory redundancy pay or full-notice payments. The troubled off-licence chain revealed earlier this month that it was closing 39...
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Analysis & Features
In the world of off-licences, is Bargain Booze a bargain?
Wine Cellar and Threshers went bust. Oddbins is on the brink of a CVA. So who would want to buy Bargain Booze and why? Elinor Zuke reports
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News
Focus On Juices & Smoothies: Keeping the juices flowing
The juices and smoothies market looks poised for recovery, but some sectors are struggling, and the spectre of commodity prices continues to haunt everyone. Elinor Zuke reports
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Profiles
JJ Food Service hires new manager for BWS development
JJ Food Service has appointed Mark Hopkins to develop its fledgling BWS category. Hopkins, who starts on Monday as sector development manager, previously held senior management roles in sales, marketing and operations at Turkish drinks...
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News
Burts Chips terminates MJ Baker supply deal
Burts Chips has terminated its supply agreement with fellow West Country business MJ Baker Foodservice after three years with neither party revealing why. MJ Baker Foodservice MD Malcolm Baker claimed he had been left in the dark as to...
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News
New Spar MD is ‘Good with Food’ marketeer Robinson
Debbie Robinson, the former director of food marketing for The Co-operative Group, is to replace long-serving Spar boss Jerry Marwood as managing director, The Grocer can reveal. Robinson will take over from Marwood in the summer when he...
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News
Shipping fuel hikes heap pressure on food prices
Experts have warned food prices are under further pressure after the price of shipping fuel reached a two-and-a-half year high. Known as bunkers, shipping fuel prices at Europe's biggest port Rotterdam have risen by 18.5% since the start...
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News
PayPoint completes dream week with government welfare contract
The government has handed PayPoint a seven-year contract to provide welfare payments. The contract, which begins in 2012, is worth £20m per year and will be shared between PayPoint and Citibank.
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News
Blakemore ‘poised to snap up Capper & Co’
Wholesale experts have predicted major consolidation in Spar UK amid rumours that AF Blakemore is looking to buy fellow Spar wholesaler Capper & Co. Capper confirmed this week it had been in talks with another company "for some time"...
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News
JJ to move into booze after Landmark link-up
JJ Food Service has signed up with Landmark Wholesale as it looks to dramatically extend its offer with a move into the alcohol market. The foodservice wholesaler is the largest company to join Landmark in the past eight years and becomes...