Tesco says it will soon be opening a number of standalone Express convenience stores around the country. Dairy Crest CEO John Houliston is to retire after 11 years when the company holds its annual meeting on July 18, 2002. He will be replaced by executive md Drummond Hall. Safeway has announced plans to open 12 new dry cleaning outlets in stores over the next four months,with an ongoing £3m rollout programme for 2002. Police are investigating a bomb blast at a Tesco Lotus store in Thailand, the third explosion at Tesco's Thai operations since July. The ACS has asked members to write to local trading standards officers to demand stringent enforcement of the Sunday Trading Act over Christmas, as more multiples open for browsing outside the legal six- hour trading period. Asda is to advertise on digital TV for the first time in the run-up to Christmas. An ad campaign on ITV digital in the Carlton region invites viewers to access information about deals on wines, spirits, beer and confectionery. Sainsbury has now introduced its Jeff & Co clothing range into 30 stores. The Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food completed its programme of regional visits this week, examining local issues faced by the industry. Cleaning company DiverseyLever and Makro have joined forces for the second year running to raise money for the BBC's Children in Need Campaign. Independent ATM provider Moneybox says more than one million cash withdrawals were made through its network in October ­ its first "million transaction month". More than £46m was withdrawn. Finance director Chris Horne is acting md for DBC Foodservice under CEO Derek Kidd following the departure of Peter Milsted. Spar has joined forces with British Gas to launch a promotion to persuade customers to buy their electricity from British Gas. Booker has begun to seek out winners of its Booker Prize for Excellence 2002 awards. There will be 13 retail and catering category winners, plus overall best retailer and best caterer. Presentations will be made in April. Pizza company Stateside Foods has signed export contracts with 15 European countries, worth more than £3m annually, in the last 18 months. Spanish competition authorities have approved Allied Domecq's offer for Spanish wine company Bodegas y Bebidas. The management buyout of WT Foods was completed this week. The management team now owns 91.6% of the shares and will "hoover up the rest", according to a spokesman. West Midland Co-op web site has been named West Midland Web Site of the Year by the Institute of Directors and Advantage West Midlands. The site is at www.co-opgrapevine.co.uk has been named "West Midland website of the year" at an event organised by the Institute of Directors and Advantage West Midlands. EU commissioner David Byrne has met European food chain representatives to renew calls for a fundamental reformation of food production and food policy. Asda research has shown that free-range hens produce more and better quality eggs if they are kept in the same field as sheep as their stress levels go down. Antonio and Priscilla Carluccio have opened their fifth cafe deli in London's Canary Wharf. Customs in Northern Ireland have seized the UK's biggest­ever consignment of smuggled cigarettes. Over 37m were seized after Cyprus-registered cargo vessel "Sylve" was detained en route from Latvia. The EU agreed to phase out £3.5bn of export subsidies for beef and dairy products at a WTO meeting on Wednesday. The WTO has also pledged to slash further subsidies by 2005. {{NEWS }}

Topics