Edward Devlin

Crawley

Freelance Journalist at The Grocer

Reporter for Midlands Business Insider. Interested in businesses and stories from across the region. All views my own.

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Articles

Media Bites 28 August: Next, vapes, plant-based meat

Aug 27, 2024 | thegrocer.co.uk | Edward Devlin

Thousands of store staff at the retailer Next have won a six-year fight for equal pay in a tribunal ruling that will be closely watched by UK supermarkets facing similar legal challenges (The Financial Times £). The employment tribunal ruling will benefit 3,540 claimants, who accused Next of paying its retail sales staff – who are overwhelmingly female – lower hourly wages than its warehouse workers, the majority of which are male (The Guardian).
Hilltop Honey agrees £10m banking package to back overseas expansion

Aug 27, 2024 | thegrocer.co.uk | Edward Devlin

Hilltop Honey has secured a banking package worth £10m to support its global expansion plans. The funding from Santander UK will allow the British honey brand to hold more stock, drive recruitment and excel growth. Santander also introduced Hilltop to stockists in North America, including Walmart Marketplace and Amazon US, via marketplace agency Infinity Blue.
Media Bites 27 August: Nestle, Unilever, M&S, Morrisons

Aug 26, 2024 | thegrocer.co.uk | Edward Devlin

Nestle’s chief executive Mark Schneider will step down after eight years at the top as sales continue to slump at the world’s biggest packaged food company (The Mail). The Lex column in The Financial Times (£) reckons Nestlé’s new boss has a tough turnaround on his hands. “Easy fixes appear to be thin on the ground for Swiss food group’s new chief Laurent Freixe,” the paper says.
City snapshot: Shop prices fall for first time in three years

Aug 26, 2024 | thegrocer.co.uk | Edward Devlin

Shop prices have fallen for the first time in almost three years as non-food retailers tempted shoppers with deep discounts in a bid to shift summer stock. The BRC-NielsenNIQ shop price index recorded deflation of 0.3% in August, swinging for inflation of 0.2% in the previous month. Non-food prices remained in deflation this month at -1.5%, falling further from the -0.9% in July. Meanwhile, food inflation continued to slow to 2%, down from 2.3%, to stand at the lowest rate since November 2021.
Mars’ $36bn deal for Kellanova is a vote of confidence in snacking

Aug 22, 2024 | thegrocer.co.uk | Edward Devlin

Mars’ blockbuster deal is a huge bet that the shift towards snacking is here to stay – even across HFSS food. Will it inspire more M&A in fmcg? Mars’ $36bn acquisition of Kellanova is a massive vote of confidence for fmcg.
Nestlé appoints new CEO in surprise departure for Mark Schneider

Aug 22, 2024 | thegrocer.co.uk | Edward Devlin

Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider has stepped down as head of the world’s biggest food company in a surprise move, to be replaced by group veteran Laurent Freixe. A statement from the Swiss group said Schneider “decided to relinquish” his role and place on the board. It comes after a period of underperformance at Nestlé, culminating with a downgrade to full-year growth forecasts in July, as the company admitted prices were falling faster than it expected.
City snapshot: Consumer confidence in the economy falls for first time in six months

Aug 22, 2024 | thegrocer.co.uk | Edward Devlin

Confidence in the UK economy has dipped even as consumers feel better about their personal finances, according to a closely watched survey. GfK’s monthly consumer confidence index for August revealed no change to the overall score at -13, but three measures were up and two were down month on month.
Media Bites 23 August: Nestlé, Gail’s, Brown-Forman

Aug 22, 2024 | thegrocer.co.uk | Edward Devlin

Nestlé announced that chief executive Mark Schneider was stepping down, and will be succeeded by company veteran Laurent Freixe, following a period of underperformance at the world’s largest food manufacturer (The Financial Times £). A feature in The Guardian looks at ho Gail’s became middle-class England’s most powerful political bellwether. “Seats hosting the upmarket chain were key to the Lib Dems’ Tory-ousting strategy in July’s election,” the paper writes.
CapVest-backed Inspired Pet Nutrition completes Butcher’s Pet Care acquisition

Aug 22, 2024 | thegrocer.co.uk | Edward Devlin

CapVest-owned Inspired Pet Nutrition has completed its acquisition of Butcher’s Pet Care to create a petfood group with sales of more than £350m. The deal represents a significant scaling up of CapVest’s pet platform, bringing together the leading makers of wet and dry petfood. It follows The Grocer revealing last month that the London-headquartered PE firm was the last remaining party in the long-running Butcher’s auction run by investment bank Houlihan Lokey.
Media Bites 22 August: Waitrose, loyalty cards, Asda

Aug 21, 2024 | thegrocer.co.uk | Edward Devlin

Waitrose plans to open its first new stores since 2018, as the upmarket supermarket chain invests £1bn into expanding its presence on the UK high street (Financial Times £). Customers of Waitrose can expect champagne fridges, dry-aged beef cabinets and new hot food partnerships under a multimillion-pound plan to upgrade stores (The Times £).