The Queen’s bank, Coutts & Co, and the Coal Pensions Board have joined a group of investors backing a resolution calling for Sainsbury’s to pay the independently set living wage for all staff and contracted workers (The Guardian). One of Sainsbury’s biggest investors will this week side with the supermarket in its battle with a campaign group over the living wage (The Times £).

Senior City advisers expect Unilever to sell off its Ben & Jerry’s brand in a dramatic shake-up of the consumer goods giant. The sale is likely to be made alongside the rest of the ice-cream division, which includes Magnum and Carte D’Or. (The Daily Mail)

The administrators of Patisserie Valerie have settled a £200m lawsuit with accountants Grant Thornton that alleged negligence in its audits of the café chain, which collapsed after a suspected fraud (The Financial Times £). Patisserie Valerie’s former executive chairman is said to be in line for a significant payout after the failed café chain’s former auditors settled a £200 million legal claim over its collapse (The Times £, The Telegraph)

British retail sales contracted in May as consumers tightened their belts amid a deepening of the cost of living crisis, fuelling concerns about a downturn in the UK economy (The Financial Times £). UK shoppers cut back on food spending last month, adding to concerns that the economy is heading for an inflation- induced recession this year (The Times £). Households are cutting back on food shopping as the rising cost of living bites into budgets (The BBC).

With consumer confidence at rock-bottom levels, it hardly comes as a shock that retailers in Great Britain had a tough month in May. The real surprise was that the 0.5% drop in the volume of spending was not worse. (The Guardian)

Shoppers are deserting private equity-owned supermarkets Asda and Morrisons as the cost-of-living crisis bites. Britain’s third and fourth-biggest grocers are losing ground to larger rivals Tesco and Sainsbury’s, industry figures show. (The Daily Mail)

Retail M&A deals are being undermined by end of cheap money. As investors chew over the future of Boots, banks are still struggling to refinance the £6.6bn of debt last October to fund Clayton, Dubilier & Rice’s takeover of Morrisons. (The Times £)

When the biggest challenge for the premium pie maker Higgidy in the midst of the Covid pandemic was trying to keep up with customer demand, Rachel Kelley, its chief executive, knew that she had inherited a business in “great shape and spirit”. (The Times £)

Britain and US ‘must end beef over food’ says US-based UK diplomat Richard Hyde. Britain remains a long way off striking a prized free trade accord with Washington, with formal negotiations on ice. Years of warnings from campaigners and critics around US food standards have loomed large over a possible deal. (The Times £)

Many US farmers, particularly small and medium-sized ones, will scale back on inputs this planting season, which will in turn hurt their future harvest. Grain trading giants such as Cargill are getting rich, as are many multinational energy companies. But growers themselves are barely in the black. (The Financial Times £)

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