The chair of John Lewis and Waitrose has vowed to protect its partnership status for decades to come despite prospective plans to sell a minority stake in the business (The Financial Times £). Dame Sharon White said she would ensure that the UK retailer’s unusual structure, whereby the staff all own the business, would “not only survive, but thrive for another 75 years”.
A small cohort of John Lewis Partnership trustees could block mooted plans to sell a minority stake in the mutual (The Times £).
Fever-Tree has raised product prices as it ramps up production to help cushion the rising cost of manufacturing glass (The Mail).
Fever-Tree is predicting a significant improvement in its profit margins from next year as it addresses the squeeze from inflationary cost pressures (The Times £).
Surging food prices pushed up UK inflation unexpectedly in February, increasing the likelihood of another interest rate rise from the Bank of England this week (The Times £).
Adding to the squeeze on household incomes, the consumer prices index accelerated to 10.4% last month from 10.1% in January, with prices driven higher by a rise in the cost of drinks, meals out and fresh food as salad items ran short (The Guardian).
It marks the highest inflation rate since December, and means CPI is edging back towards the 11.1% peak recorded in October (The Telegraph).
British retailers and food producers will meet ministers on Thursday to raise concerns over a new recycling scheme costing £1.7bn a year, which they warn will lead to higher costs for consumers without benefiting the environment as intended (The Financial Times £).
The new Mars boss is betting on petcare as the private empire aims to double its sales. ‘Societal trends’ are driving a boom in animal services at a company best known for chocolate, writes The Financial Times (£).
Marks and Spencer found itself back in fashion with investors after a hat-trick of upgrades from City brokers, according to a market report in The Mail. Amid fresh signs of a recovery at the High Street favourite, BNP Paribas declared ‘management has put the spark back into M&S’.
Amazon workers in the UK are planning further strike action as they dismissed as “an insult” a 50p an hour increase to its minimum hourly pay for warehouse workers to £11 (The Guardian).
UK prime minister Rishi Sunak has easily won a House of Commons vote on his new post-Brexit deal for Northern Ireland by 515 to 29, but only after suffering a Conservative revolt led by three ex-Tory leaders (The Financial Times £).
Up to 40% of shops will need to be reinvented into anything from go-kart tracks to food markets over the next five years or “wither on the vine” as demand for physical retail wanes, local leaders have claimed (The Guardian).
Britain’s oldest brewer Shepherd Neame achieved record first-half turnover at the end of last year despite losing around £250,000 worth of sales from the rail strikes in December (The Mail).
Starbucks workers at over 100 stores around the US walked out on Wednesday ahead of the company’s annual shareholder meeting and held a protest in Seattle outside Starbucks’ headquarters (The Guardian).
Starbucks is placing a further big bet on China — where competition is growing and recent results left a bitter taste — in one of Howard Schultz’s last acts before he stepped down as chief executive this month (The Financial Times £).
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