A leading credit insurer has pulled cover for suppliers to Iceland as the jump in energy costs piles pressure on the frozen food chain ahead of a crunch refinancing. Coface is said to have slashed cover on Iceland to zero in December. Fellow insurers Allianz Trade and Atradius both cut coverage levels on Iceland last year (The Times £).

Tesco executive Jason Tarry has been identified as a possible replacement for Morrisons boss David Potts, according to City sources. Clayton Dubilier & Rice, the US private equity firm that owns Morrisons, is using headhunter Egon Zehnder to find candidates for a number of senior roles at the supermarket (The Daily Mail).

After activist investor behind break-ups joins board, Nelson Peltz gets his man… now will Unilever boss sell off food? “The most likely next move for the pair is the sale of the food division, separating it from Unilever’s household products arm. Many in the City are convinced Peltz and Schumacher can pull it off. Investors are likely to back the plan and Jope’s faster than planned departure signals the company is looking to move quickly” (The Daily Mail).

Is it time for Unilever to ditch ‘purpose’ for profit, asks The Times. “The Ben & Jerry’s and Dove shampoo giant found investors lost patience with its ethical stance as sales flagged… Will the new boss be able to pacify disillusioned investors while championing the causes that won Greenpeace’s favour?” (The Times £).

The UK’s flagship consumer goods group Unilever, which trades under the banner of making ‘sustainable living commonplace’, has stayed open in Russia during the last year of grisly warfare. The maker of Dove soap, Hellmann’s mayonnaise and Magnum ice cream has earned an estimated £500m since the start of the conflict (The Daily Mail).

Aldi and Lidl spend big in battle for ‘hearts and minds’ of British farmers. As tensions between traditional supermarkets and suppliers hit boiling point, Aldi and Lidl are positioning themselves as the new face of British produce (The Telegraph £).

Amazon is aiming to shed empty warehouses across Britain as it slams the brakes on growth plans after falling to its worst annual loss on record. Amazon is understood to have kicked off work to sublet unused big-box sites in Britain, following years of swooping for more warehouse space across the country (The Telegraph £).

The crushed supply of olive oil may be here to stay, writes The FT. Scorching summers are causing production to fall, potentially adding price increases to the list of climate change consequences. “Companies that sell olive oil may be squeezed too, as they struggle to pass on the price increase to consumers” (The Financial Times £).

More than half a billion pounds in apprenticeship levy funding was “wasted” and sent back to the government last year, according to the Co-operative Group, prompting fresh calls from businesses for reforms to a system they claim is broken (The Times £).

Retailers, hospitality businesses, the tech industry and recruiters have called for urgent reform of the apprenticeship levy, calling it a “£3.5bn mistake”. In a letter sent to ministers, the British Retail Consortium, UKHospitality, techUK, and the Recruitment & Employment Confederation said the government was “holding back investment” in critical training that could increase productivity, fuel economic growth and raise wages (The Guardian).

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