Embattled Premier Foods chief executive Gavin Darby narrowly survived a vote to oust him at a torrid annual meeting, with activist shareholder Oasis Management declaring that its campaign to shake up the company’s performance was not over (The Financial Times £, The Times £, The Guardian, Sky News). The boss of Premier Foods was today saved from the sack by its largest shareholder, Japanese noodle giant Nissin Foods, at the Mr Kipling maker’s hot-tempered annual general meeting (The Telegraph). Mr Kipling boss Gavin Darby survives coup by ruthless hedge funds as he’s saved by the firm’s biggest shareholder (The Daily Mail).
Mr Kipling owner in a sticky situation, says The Times’ (£) Alistair Osborne. “True, Premier’s problems may be more of the structural than management variety. But the overpaid Mr Darby isn’t helping. It’s time for him to go.”
Winning Battle of Bisto won’t save Premier Foods boss Darby, writes The Telegraph’s Ben Marlow. “Premier is in desperate need of new ingredients and Darby has shown that he doesn’t know what those are,” he writes. (The Telegraph)
Sales of chilled drinks, fridge-friendly chocolate and ice cream have been booming at Hotel Chocolat thanks to last month’s heatwave (The Daily Mail). The hot weather has sweetened sales at Hotel Chocolat by boosting demand for ice cream and chilled chocolates (The Telegraph) The chocolatier has dismissed the sense of gloom on the high street, opening new shops and enjoying sales growth of 12 per cent over the past year (The Times £).
Almost a third of plastic packaging used by UK supermarkets is either non-recyclable through standard collection schemes or difficult to recycle, according to a new analysis by consumer group Which? (The Guardian). Supermarkets are not doing enough to reduce the amount of plastic in their packaging that is hard or impossible to recycle, according to the consumer watchdog Which? (Sky News). Consumer group Which? said that of 27 own-brand items at 10 big supermarkets, Lidl had the lowest proportion of easily recyclable packaging. However Lidl said the survey did not represent the shop’s product range (The BBC).
German-owned KP has gobbled up potato crisps maker Popchips for an undisclosed sum following its takeover of Tyrrells. (The Daily Mail)
Carr’s, the agriculture and engineering group, said it was cautious about the prospects for farming due to uncertainty on trade deals after Brexit. (The Times £).
Amazon’s Prime Day spurred record sales on its own website and beyond this week, cementing the holiday it invented three years ago as a bright spot in the summer retail slowdown (The Financial Times £). The e-commerce giant briefly became only the second company after Apple to join the $900bn market-cap club Amazon on Wednesday (The Financial Times £).
A further 1,500 restaurant sector jobs could be at risk after Gaucho Group confirmed that it had filed a notice of its intention to appoint administrators after failing to find a buyer. (The Times £, The Financial Times £, The Guardian, The Telegraph, Sky News).
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