Bargain Booze and Wine Rack owner Conviviality has failed to raise £125m required to resolve its cash crisis Financial Times (£). It must now consider alternatives, such as a sale of the business, or risk collapse. Conviviality Retail “on the brink of collapse”, reports The Times (£), in “a astonishing fall from grace for a former stock-market darling”. Conviviality is thought to have lined up PwC to advise it on its options ahead of a looming £39m tax bill due today. It admitted: “The board believes that shareholders in the company will receive little-to-nil value.”
The Daily Telegraph says it is thought a break-up and sale of separate businesses is the most likely possibility. Sources said its brands were such strong businesses on their own they could easily stand as separate entities.
The British Retail Consortium says environment secretary Michael Gove’s mooted bottle and can deposit return scheme could cost £900m-£1bn to implement, reports The Guardian.
Drinks giant Coca-Cola called the bottle return scheme a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” Sky News. Chris Noice, head of research at the Association of Convenience Stores says the proposals raises more questions than it answers and wonders how small stores will have the space.
Reckitt Benckiser chief executive Rakesh Kapoor earned £12.5m last year, the Nurofen to Durex maker’s annual report reveals, down from £15.3m in 2016 and £25.5m in 2015 Financial Times (£). He remains one of the UK’s highest-paid chief executives despite the two consecutive falls which have been in response to shareholder pressure on high remuneration. The Daily Telegraph notes the company posted flat annual sales for the first time ever last month and said it had missed previously-set targets for profit margins.
The Bank of England says in its agents’ report that exporters are establishing distribution hubs in Europe to make sure they can continue with sales on the Continent after the UK leaves the European Union The Times (£). They are making preparations to negate the possibility of any delays at borders. Factories are also increasing investment to capitalise on booming global trade.
The Confederation of British Industry’s distributive trade survey shows retail sales in March were at their weakest level for the time of year since April 2013, reports The Times (£) – largely attributed to the “Beast from the East”. Some 32% of retailers told the CBI that sales were up in the year to March and 40% said that they had fallen — the biggest difference for this time of the year in five years.
The Daily Mail reports that Coca-Cola will close bottling plants in Milton Keynes and Northampton, which will jeopardise 300 jobs. It had warned in January the two plants were under threat. Coca-Cola European Partners said all production and warehousing would be transferred from those depots to other GB sites and it would continue to invest in the business to support long-term growth. The Independent says the other UK sites are in Sidcup, Edmonton, Morpeth, Wakefield and East Kilbride.
Staying with closures, Unilever said it would close its historic Colman’s Mustard factory in Norwich by the end of the year with the loss of just under half of the 113 jobs. Some of the roles will move to Burton upon Trent. A new site in Norwich will create about 25 jobs The Daily Mail.
Thousands of high-street outlets have shut in the last decade, leaving behind a wasteland of betting shops, says The Guardian, which reports how one community in York’s Bishopthorpe Road, has found a simple way to reverse the decline. It asks whether the model could be used nationwide.
Stateside, Walmart has removed Cosmopolitan from checkouts, reports The Guardian. The Asda owner said it was primarily a business decision but it had taken note of concerns raised by pressure groups over the magazine’s content, including the National Center on Sexual Exploitation.
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