The Competition & Markets Authority’s long-awaited report into Which?’s ’super-complaint’ on supermarket promotions is out this morning and making headlines across all major news outlets. The CMA said it had found some examples of consumers being confused by deals, but said there was no evidence of widespread abuse across the retail sector. For full coverage, reactions and analysis throughout the day, see thegrocer.co.uk

Cheese and whisky exports have helped Lidl’s UK sales hit record £4bn. The no-frills supermarket said on Wednesday that sales in the year to February 2015 had risen from £3.3bn the previous year. The UK business exports £30m of British cheese and £100m of Scottish whisky to other Lidl stores across Europe. (The Financial Times £)

Lidl has also splashed out £10m on a site for a new headquarters in a clear statement of intent about its ambitions to grow in Britain. The retailer has paid £10m to buy a five-acre site close to Tolworth train station in west London. It plans to build a 220,000 sq ft building that will hold more than 750 people, which is double the size of Lidl’s existing base in Wimbledon. (The Telegraph)

The chairman of JD Wetherspoon hit out at the government’s plans to introduce a higher national living wage, warning that it brought “considerable uncertainty” to the pub industry. Shares in the UK pub chain fell 8.4 per cent on Wednesday to a 12-month low after it highlighted a number of cost pressures that threatened to erode its earnings. (The Financial Times £)

JD Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin was branded a ‘hypocrite’ for moaning about paying his workers the living wage. Luke Hildyard, deputy director of the High Pay Centre, said Martin’s comments were ill-judged, adding: “There’s something pretty ugly about the multi-millionaire owner of a massive business bleating about having to pay his staff enough money to live on.” (The Daily Mail)

A burst of summer sunshine boosted clothing stores last month and helped retailers bounce back as like-for-like sales rose by 1.8%, according to new figures. The year-on-year increase in June comes after a flat month in May and is the best rise in 18 months excluding Easter distortions, according to the British Retail Consortium and KPMG’s Retail Sales Monitor. (The Guardian)

Britain’s independent retailers are experiencing a sales ‘roller coaster’, with the difference in takings between retailers’ busiest and quietest months is now wider than ever. Last year, firms recorded a 36pc difference in average sales between their best and worst performing months of December and February. This was the largest gap since 1990, according to research from O2 Business. (The Telegraph)

Brewers are fermenting big plans in Southeast Asia as beer consumptions has seen stellar growth as incomes have risen. “The trend looks set to keep fizzing into the future,” writes the FT, noting that the beer market in the Asean group of countries is predicted to grow at an average rate of 4.5 per cent a year over the next five years (The Financial Times £)

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