Hannah Gibson - press shot

Ocado Retail new boss Hannah Gibson

Ocado Retail has appointed Hannah Gibson as its new chief executive, after Mel Smith left the business at the end of August as the pandemic-driven boom enjoyed by the online retailer ended (The FInancial Times £).

Gibson, 38, who has spent more than a decade working within the company, will take up the role of chief executive at Ocado Retail on 20 September (The Times £).

Liz Truss will today announce a £150bn package to freeze energy bills for up to two years as she ends the ban on fracking and gives the go-ahead for oil and gas drilling in the North Sea (The Times £).

The new prime minister is expected to announce to MPs that bills will be frozen at about £2,500 a year until 2024 as part of a package of support costing up to £130bn, funded by the taxpayer, as she tries to address the most significant economic crisis in a generation (The Guardian).

Beavertown has become the latest craft brewer to be swallowed up by a global drinks corporation, after Heineken bought the 51% of the company it did not already own, in a deal likely to net its founder tens of millions of pounds (The Guardian).

Founded by Logan Plant, the son of Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant, the north London firm originally sold a minority interest to the Dutch multinational for £40m in 2018 in order to fund a new brewery and visitor site (The Mail).

Heineken said, as part of the deal, Logan Plant would step down as chief executive and assume an advisory role (The Times £). Jochen van Esch, an executive at Heineken UK since 2014, will become MD of Beavertown.

WH Smith has said the cyberattack that affected the Funky Pigeon greeting cards website has ‘adversely impacted’ trade at its high street division (The Mail).

The price of lavatory paper has jumped 15% in a year despite rolls being shortened by up to 8%, making for some of the sharpest inflation in a weekly shop (The Telegraph).

Freddie’s Flowers is considering restructuring options and has instigated further job cuts as the subscription service’s sales continue to suffer, according to The Mail.

Farmers and food producers in Europe have warned of seasonal shortages and significant price increases across a wide range of everyday products this winter, as they called for government support to offset surging energy costs (The Financial Times £).

The company set to take over the running of the National Lottery next year has moved a step closer to joining the New York Stock Exchange via a $8bn merger with a special purpose acquisition company (The Times £).

Drinking a can of diet soft drink every day could increase the risk of heart disease, according to a study (The Times £).