Booker has been the most determined predator in wholesaling history. It has also shed an armful of businesses since Stuart Rose promised to focus on the core business. When cash and carry trading was in its infancy, the company acquired household names including Alliance, Kearley & Tonge, James Harper, Arthur Richardson, Alfred Button, Budgetts, Patrick Grainger & French, McNabs, Gardners and more. In 1985 it fought off a takeover from the Dee Corporation and three years later, acquired Linfood C&C from Dee in a deal worth £90m. The purchase led to the closure of more than 40 branches. The next major acquisition came in 1996 when Nurdin & Peacock was purchased for £264m but, here again, more than 40 branches were sacrificed. In 1998, Somerfield pulled out of talks to acquire Booker at a time when Budgens was also interested in the C&C operator. It too walked away. In 1999 Booker began selling its non-C&C interests. Among the major disposals were its Booker Wholesale Foods delivered-to-retail arm to Palmer & Harvey McLane and Booker Foodservice to Bidvest. Last July, Booker acquired Huddersfield based Double J and then, in December, purchased nine Trademarket depots from Alldays for £7.35m. It subsequently closed three of them. {{NEWS }}

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