The founder of The Hut Group is poised to give up his “golden share” in the company after a sharp fall in its share price sparked by investor concerns over his strategy (The Telegraph). THG is set to announce an overhaul of its corporate governance structure today after losing billions of pounds of value last week as founder Matt Moulding plans to ditch the “golden share” that gives him the right to veto a takeover bid for three years (The Times £).Online shopping mogul Matt Moulding is preparing to make sweeping changes to the way he runs his company after a torrid week that saw billions wiped off the value of his THG business (The Daily Mail). Matthew Moulding, the boss of the online beauty, nutrition and technology services group THG, is to surrender his golden share in the company in an attempt to restore the City’s confidence after a torrid fortnight (Sky News).
Alex Brummer in The Mail writes: “The fancy crop of advisors who brought THG to market, including Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Barclays, should have recognised from the outset that governance was deeply flawed and built in better checks and balances to ensure that founder-chairman Matt Moulding was better informed on the ways of public companies.” (The Daily Mail)
The Guardian looks at why shares in THG are tanking and what are the company’s plans? Investors starting to question firm’s governance and profitability a year after its £5.4bn flotation. (The Guardian)
The boss of Morrisons warned that labour shortages were causing delays to new store openings, investment in automation and products reaching shelves as he hit back at an MP’s claim that supply chain failings were in the “long-term interest” of the economy. (The Times £)
The Times interviews Morrisons CEO David Potts as thirty-nine years after they first met, retail veterans are set to be reunited again after Terry Leahy, a senior adviser at Clayton Dubilier & Rice, spearheaded the private equity firm’s £7 billion takeover of Wm Morrison, where Potts is chief executive. (The Times £)
Tax experts have claimed the British taxpayer will ‘subsidise’ the £7billion private equity takeover of Morrisons as investors prepare to vote through the deal. MPs and tax campaigners last night said the deal ‘stinks’ and will likely result in Morrisons paying less tax to the Exchequer. (The Daily Mail)
In The Mail, Ruth Sunderland writes: “Barring a major upset at the shareholder vote this week, Morrisons will fall into the hands of US buyout barons from Clayton Dubilier & Rice. Investors, who are awfully keen on social responsibility if it involves green energy, women’s health or LGBTQ and less so if it entails saying no to rapacious predators, will probably wave it through.” (The Daily Mail)
The American maker of a “bleeding” meat-free burger, Impossible Foods, is planning to launch in Britain after applying for regulatory approval to sell the product. (The Times £)
Vegan meal delivery start-up Allplants has secured £38m in funding to capitalise on the growth in “flexitarians” as people reduce their meat consumption for health and environmental reasons. (The Times £)
Shiseido will step up acquisitions of skincare brands to diversify its footprint beyond China following a radical restructuring of its assets during the Covid-19 crisis. (The Financial Times £)
The number of businesses that failed in England and Wales last month was the largest since the Covid pandemic began. (The BBC)
The authorisation of the first e-cigarette by US regulators this week was described by industry experts as a historic moment for the $5bn sector, which has been operating under a cloud since a crackdown on a teen vaping “epidemic” in 2018. (The Financial Times £)
Neat Burger, the Lewis Hamilton-backed vegan restaurant group, has completed a funding round led by SoftBank’s Rajeev Misra valuing the company at $70m and allowing it to push ahead with plans to triple in size. (The Financial Times £)
Authorities in Brazil are growing increasingly concerned over a Chinese ban on Brazilian beef which has lasted more than a month and threatens to decimate exports worth around $4bn per year. (The Financial Times £)
It is seafood but it does not involve fishing nets or the sea, with plant-based filet-o-fish burgers, smoked salmon and prawns the next big thing in alternative protein. (The Guardian)
Retailers check out life without tills and cashiers. Tesco and other supermarkets are testing ways to let shoppers skip the queues and just pay for their goods as they walk out. (The Telegraph)
The Telegraph interviews Brewdog’s James Watt on whether BrewDog can lure the City suits after weathering a storm of criticism. (The Telegraph)
Sales at pubs, restaurants and bars jumped close to a tenth on pre-pandemic levels of September 2019 - their second successive month of increases, according to data from CGA. (The Daily Mail)
The restaurant group behind Quaglino’s and Coq d’Argent in London and 20 Stories in Manchester estimates that staff shortages are costing it 10% of its revenues. (The Times £)
The FT looks at the leadership challenges of reinventing a traditional industry, interviewing Milk & More’s Patrick Müller, who set about transforming the dairy delivery service to one fit for the digital age. (The Financial Times £)
Mondelez boss Dirk Van de Put says the group has “made Cadbury stronger”. The CEO of Mondelez says the brand is thriving after a bitter takeover. Now he must deal with changing tastes. (The Times £)
The Guardian argues industrial chicken production is breeding the next pandemic. At least eight types of bird flu, all of which can kill humans, are circulating around the world’s factory farms – and they could be worse than Covid-19. (The Guardian)
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