Five people have been arrested over the Patisserie Valerie affair as the scandal over the chain’s collapse deepens. The Serious Fraud Office confirmed it had arrested and questioned five people last Tuesday (The Sunday Times £). The arrests did not include Luke Johnson, former executive chairman, or Lee Ginsberg and James Horler, former non-executive directors, who were understood to have been interviewed as witnesses (The Times £). The SFO did not disclose the names of those arrested or what they had been detained for, although said it was conducting inquiries into the role of individuals in the firm’s slide into administration (The Guardian). Five people have been arrested as part of an escalating investigation into an alleged fraud at Patisserie Valerie that led to the UK café chain being plunged into administration earlier this year (The Financial Times £, The Telegraph, Sky News, The BBC)

Waitrose is close to offloading eight supermarkets in a deal that will relieve some of the pressure on the John Lewis Partnership’s finances. The chain has received bids for stores in locations including Bath, Reading and Market Harborough. (The Times £)

Crisps made from discarded salmon skin and a vegan “meal in a bottle” will be on sale at Sainsbury’s from Monday as part of a drive to test shoppers’ reactions to fledgling “disrupter” food and drink brands. (The Guardian)

Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s has been blasted for ‘rewarding failure’ by handing bumper rewards to chief executive Mike Coupe despite a calamitous end to his attempted merger with Asda. In a report seen by The Mail on Sunday, shareholder advisory body Glass Lewis challenged Sainsbury’s board and pay committee to explain the size of executive bonuses following the shares crash. (The Mail)

Questions are being asked about the fairness of BrewDog’s fundraising model, which relies on crowdfunders known as “equity punks”, and its frothy valuation of £1.8bn, which experts say far exceeds those of similar businesses. (The Times £)

Greene King’s dividend will come into focus this week as the pub group’s new boss faces the City for the first time after the departure of Rooney Anand. (The Times £)

The search for a new chief executive of Domino’s Pizza Group suffered a setback yesterday when the frontrunner appeared to rule himself out. (The Times £)

Boots, one of the high street’s oldest brands is now desperate for investment, writes Sam Chambers in The Sunday Times (£). “The unloved branch is one of almost 2,000 community pharmacies starved of investment by their American owner Walgreens… Since buying the business, Walgreens has siphoned more than £1bn in dividends out of Britain’s leading pharmacist, including a £320m payout last year despite a brutal retail environment.”

The organisers of the Olympic Games have signed a record sponsorship deal with Coca-Cola and China Mengniu Dairy worth a combined $3bn, in one of the biggest ever corporate endorsements in sport. (The Financial Times £)

The Meatless Farm, a UK challenger to plant-based protein groups Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, is preparing to enter the US market after signing a distribution agreement with retailer Whole Foods Market. (The Financial Times £)

Big companies are scrambling to grab a share of the $150bn (£119bn) global cannabis market, eyeing products as diverse as beer and dog treats. That’s according to a report by Standard & Poor’s which predicts further expansion as legal cannabis becomes acceptable. (The BBC)

One of the few cannabis firms listed in London is considering a move to America’s heavyweight Nasdaq Exchange. AfriAg Global is listed on the Nex Exchange and is merging with Apollon Formularies, a Jamaica-based company that makes cannabis-related medical products to sell at clinics. (The Daily Mail)

Game Digital has agreed to a £52m takeover by retail tycoon Mike Ashley, potentially paving the way for video gamers to descend on House of Fraser stores for live battles in purpose-built gaming arenas. (The Guardian, The Times (£))

People are likely to cut back on their spending as wage growth slows, dampening a key driver of the economy, a report has suggested. The EY Item Club expects consumer spending growth to slow from 1.8% in 2018 to 1.6% in 2019 and 1.7% in 2020. (The Times £)

German retailer Metro AG has rejected a €5.8bn takeover offer from an investment vehicle controlled by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, arguing it “substantially undervalues” the Düsseldorf-based company. (The Financial Times £)

Carrefour, Europe’s largest retailer, took a decisive step towards exiting China on Sunday as it sold the majority of its struggling business in the country. (The Financial Times £)

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