US buyout firm and Morrisons owner Clayton, Dubilier & Rice has hired former Tesco boss Sir Dave Lewis as an operating adviser as it seeks to bolster its consumer and retail team so it can explore new investments. (The Financial Times £)

Supermarkets are agreeing to accept smaller than usual cauliflowers, sprouts, cabbages and leeks as farmers struggle to cope with poor weather and flooding around the UK (The Guardian). Smaller vegetables will be sold on Tesco’s shelves after farmers’ crops were affected by extreme weather (The Telegraph £).

The billionaire Issa brothers are trialling a four-day week at Asda as they seek to stamp out a revolt among disgruntled store managers. (Telegraph £)

Asda has been forced to explain to MPs who sit on the grocer’s board after a union accused the private equity firm that backed a £6.8bn buy-out of misleading Parliament. (Daily Mail)

Consumer price inflation is expected to have remained at two-year lows at the end of last year when the Office for National Statistics publishes the latest data on Wednesday. (The Times £)

Economists fear that the added overheads associated with the disruption to trade due to the crisis in the Red Sea could be passed on to consumers, and scupper the UK’s fight against inflation (The Times £). Shipping costs have risen by more than 300% since November amid the disruption caused to freight in the Red Sea from attacks, according to fresh data (Sky News).

Eagle Eye Solutions is a tech stock to watch, writes The Times. The firm is interesting the industry and it’s not impossible a takeover could emerge from a retail giant that’s lagging on marketing tech — or a software giant could also be on the horizon. (The Times £)

The blunt truth is becoming increasingly clear to everyone. John Lewis’s employee ownership model might be lovely in theory, but it is now holding the business back - and the recovery of M&S surely proves that. With its cumbersome partnership model, and its slow consensual style of management, there is very little sign that John Lewis will be able to summon up the energy or willpower to make the same kind of radical changes that its rival has. (Telegraph £)

How online grocers failed to topple bricks and mortar rivals. Covid was supposed to change shopping habits for ever but the cost of living crisis and the lasting appeal of real-life browsing has led consumers back to physical stores. (The Times £)

Prezzo is preparing to challenge the likes of Pret A Manger and Upper Crust with its own chain of takeaway pasta shops in train stations, as casual restaurant chains come under pressure. (Telegraph £)

Flat Iron, a steakhouse chain that started life as a pop-up above a London pub has embarked on a nationwide push after hitting weekly sales of £1m from its 14 restaurants. (The Times £)

When newly appointed Landsec CEO Mark Allan strolled around Bluewater in Kent three years ago, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the vast shopping centre was simply way too big for the age of online shopping. Allan is happy to concede that his fears were overblown — he had underestimated the appetite of retailers such as JD Sports and Uniqlo to open bigger, brighter stores in Bluewater. Such was his renewed confidence, he bought an additional 25% stake in the centre for £172m two years ago. Now, he has bigger plans. (The Times £)

Italian entrepreneur and social media influencing Chiara Ferragni found herself in an unwelcome glare of publicity when a Milan court announced she was under investigation for “aggravated fraud” related to sales of a Christmas cake that were misleadingly linked to fundraising for a children’s hospital. (Financial Times £)

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