Asda’s owners created nearly £1.5bn of new liabilities that are not counted in the supermarket chain’s headline debt figures to finance a buyout of a petrol stations business that they also control (Financial Times £).

The billionaire Issa brothers borrowed a further $9m (£7m) from their petrol forecourts empire last year to pay for their private jets, new documents reveal. (Telegraph £)

Heineken is reopening 62 UK pubs it had closed in recent years and will put about £40mn annually into refurbishing its estate in the latest sign that pub groups are regaining confidence as cost of living pressures ease (Financial Times £). Heineken is investing £39m to reopen 62 long-closed pubs and upgrade more than 600 of the brewer’s existing venues in the UK (The Times £). Heineken is to spend £39m on reopening about 60 UK pubs and sprucing up “tired” locals in suburban areas in an effort to attract more consumers working from home (The Guardian). Brewing giant Heineken will reopen 62 pubs that were closed in recent years and invest £39m in refurbishing hundreds of sites across the UK (BBC). An investment of nearly £40m is set to create more than 1,000 jobs, according to Heineken’s UK pubs operator. Two pubs have already been reopened. Here’s a look at some of the others set to pull pints once again this year (Sky News).

Cold wet weather and caution about spending amid high interest rates and energy bills have delivered a dismal start to spring for retailers and restaurants, the latest industry figures show (The Guardian). UK retail sales and spending fell in April as shoppers’ appetites were hit by “dismal” weather and the early timing of Easter, according to industry figures (Financial Times £).

The National Farmers Union has warned the government that it cannot import its way to food security, as it reported business confidence among UK farmers hitting an all-time low this year. (Financial Times £)

Farmers’ confidence has hit its lowest level in at least 14 years, a long-running survey by the biggest farming union in Britain has found, with extreme weather and the post-Brexit phasing-out of EU subsidies blamed for the drop. (The Guardian)

A former business minister has urged officials to roll out the red carpet to convince Unilever to list its ice cream arm in London. (Daily Mail)

Olive oil prices are set to climb further this year – heading to more than £16 a litre for a bottle of extra virgin – amid a drop in global production to the lowest level in more than a decade. (The Guardian)

Of all the effects of Brexit, probably the least anticipated was that flower exporters and customs officials would have to learn Latin. But that is one of the problems that confronted British businesses in the first week after the government introduced physical checks on some food and plants from the EU. (The Guardian)

Diageo’s chief financial officer has stepped down after a turbulent three years in the role marked by a profit warning and poor share price performance at the spirits giant. (Financial Times £)

Ministers are facing calls to crack down on local takeaways amid concerns that large salty portions are fuelling Britain’s obesity crisis. (Telegraph £)

Domino’s is ready for a summer of pizzas. The share price has been drifting but the marketing focus of the fast-food company is on Euro 2024 and it has been dining out on digital advances and store openings. (The Times £)

Waitrose has been accused of forcing reduced redundancy payouts on warehouse staff who were already at risk of losing their jobs. (Telegraph £)

Animal welfare campaigners are challenging the decision to allow producers of Scottish salmon to drop the word “farmed” from labelling. (The Guardian)

A food market provider has started trialling a delivery service in an attempt to “revive” a financial district and rival the likes of Deliveroo and Uber Eats. (The Times £)

On April 16, UK lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in favour of a new law that will make it illegal for people born after 2009 ever to buy cigarettes. Yet the share prices of London-listed tobacco giants Imperial Brands and British American Tobacco have risen since the day before the bill’s approval. That’s because this legislative approach is unlikely to catch on internationally — and might not even last in the UK. (Financial Times £)

After years in the doldrums, is legal cannabis finally on a new high? Legalisation has proved a false dawn, whether for medicinal or recreational marijuana. At a farm in North Macedonia, they hope the industry can turn a corner at last. (The Times £)

Pizza duo kept a slice of the pandemic delivery boom to themselves. Yard Sale Pizza’s relationship with customers and retaining ordering data topped Deliveroo tie-up. (The Times £)

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