Black Friday sales bounced back this year as shoppers looked out for good deals, despite predictions the higher cost of living would dampen the event (The BBC). Britain’s big shopping centres were packed this weekend, defying the more gloomy forecasters who predicted that consumers would stay home on one of the key shopping weekends of the year as a recession loomed (The Times £).
Black Friday got off to a muted start in the UK, with the number of home deliveries booked down by about 5% and no surge on the high street. (The Guardian)
High street bosses are braced for a string of casualties this Christmas as households battle with rising food and energy bills. Industry experts and store executives have said that chains have been caught between rapidly rising costs and weaker than hoped for demand. (The Daily Mail)
Sausage casings maker Devro rocketed 62% following a bid from one of Germany’s largest agricultural groups. Saria – part of the Rethmann family empire – offered £667m for Devro, which was a 65 per cent premium to its closing price on Thursday (The Daily Mail). Saria’s generous £540 million takeover offer for Devro propelled the sausage-skin maker’s shares to levels not seen in six years (The Times £).
Amazon’s UK tax bill jump could jump by £29m next year as a result of changes to business rates that are scheduled to hit warehouses and online retailers the hardest. (The Guardian).
The EU is to propose a bloc-wide vaping levy as part of a shake-up of taxation on the tobacco industry that would also double excise duties in member states with low cigarette taxes, according to a draft European Commission document. (The Financial Times £)
Nando’s, the chicken restaurant chain, has more than halved its losses as it reported a “significant bounceback” in customer demand over the past year. (The Times £)
Andy Bond is to rejoin Pepco as its chairman early next year, having made a full recovery from the health problems that prompted him to quit as the Poundland owner’s chief executive in the spring. (The Times £)
Cranswick, one of Britain’s biggest food producers, is flying in 400 butchers more than 6,000 miles from the Philippines to avert a Christmas shutdown after an exodus of staff following Brexit. (The Times £)
Warehouses operated by high street fashion retailers including Marks & Spencer are clogging up with unsold stock as supply-chain pressures ease and shoppers rein in spending (The Times £). British retailers are hoping that one of the traditionally busiest shopping periods of the year will help reduce the amount of clothing filling warehouses after being caught out by improving supplier-delivery times (The Guardian).
A pubs industry veteran is drinking to his biggest shareholder after it injected new funding into his business amid talks with lenders. Oaktree Capital has in recent weeks committed millions of pounds to RedCat Pub Company, set up by Rooney Anand, which trades from roughly 120 venues. (Sky News)
Domino’s, Britain’s biggest pizza delivery business by a distance, has been preparing ‘the entire year’ for the World Cup tournament. They had watched sales go through the roof at last year’s delayed Euro 2020 competition, in which England lost in the final to Italy. In a group stage game between England and Scotland, Domino’s was selling 13 pizzas every second. (The Daily Mail)
Pets at Home plans further diversification. This week, CEO Lyssa McGowan noted the “huge space” between shipping a bag of dog food and doing surgery on a cat. She mentioned nutrition, wellbeing, preventive medicine, homewares, accessories, end of life care and training. Growth, she said, would both be organic and through “accretive M&A opportunities”. (The Financial Times £)
Despite challenges, it is by no means doom and gloom for the beverage giants. Spirits have been a bright spot, led by the baijiu market in China and trendy tequila in the US. UK-listed drinks giant Diageo has decent brands in this segment, ranging from Johnnie Walker whisky to Smirnoff vodka. And these big brands have pricing power. (The Financial Times £)
Rare whiskies have emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries of volatile financial markets as investors seek safety in more tangible assets. (The Financial Times £)
The Times looks at how THIS muscled in on the alternative meat space. Creating meat alternatives requires investment. It took £900,000 to develop the first two products — a vegan bacon and vegan chicken pieces — and get them onto menus at Patty&Bun, the London burger chain, and the shelves of Waitrose (The Times £)
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