Arla Foods: Lurpak maker plans €19bn merger Business Arla Foods, the group behind brands such as Lurpak and Cravendale, has announced a merger which could create a €19bn giant. The Swedish-Danish diary co-operative, whose UK headquarters is in Leeds, has revealed plans to merge with Germany-headquartered DMK Group. If it goes ahead, the merger would bring together 12,000 farmers across Europe with the [...]
McCain: Chips favourite doubles profit to £100m in three years Retail Profit at the UK arm of potatoes giant McCain Foods surged to almost £100m during its latest financial year, it has been revealed. The North Yorkshire-headquartered UK arm of the Canadian giant has reported a pre-tax profit of £98.7m for the 12 months to 30 June, 2024. The figure, revealed in new accounts filed with [...]
Inheritance tax: Ministers urged to ‘do right thing’ ahead of farming summit Politics The government is being urged to “do the right thing” over its plan to bring in inheritance tax for farm businesses worth more than £1m, following months of protests by farmers. Ministers are being encouraged to “reset” their relationship with Britain’s farmers, ahead of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) conference on Tuesday. President Tom Bradshaw [...]
Arla Foods: Lurpak maker eyes cuts as it battles rising prices February 19, 2025 Arla Foods, the dairy giant behind the likes of Lurpak and Cravendale, has warned it is looking to make cuts of up to €110m (£91.1m) in 2025 as it battles rising prices and consumer uncertainty. The Danish-Swedish multinational co-operative, which has a large presence in the UK, added it expects to report a revenue of [...]
‘This is Keir Starmer’s Poll Tax’: Labour warned inheritance tax protests won’t stop February 17, 2025 The Labour government’s reforms to farmers’ inheritance tax announced in the Autumn Budget has been branded as “Keir Starmer’s Poll Tax”. William Lees-Jones, who owns and runs Manchester-based JW Lees, which has produced real ale since 1828, added that the Prime Minister is “losing the argument and feeling rattled”. The pubs boss has liked the policy, which [...]
Farmers warn of ‘breaking point’ at Westminster tractor rally February 10, 2025 Protesting farmers at a tractor rally in Westminster have warned “we are at breaking point” as they called on the government to scrap planned changes to inheritance tax on farms. Protesters staged another tractor protest outside Parliament and Downing Street on Monday, organised by Save British Farming, as they continued to campaign against Labour’s plans [...]
Rising wages hit British strawberry growers January 13, 2025 The British berry growing industry has warned its future is under threat despite its value rising to £2bn for the first time. According to industry body British Berry Growers, rising energy costs and wage increases will continue to create ‘challenging circumstances’ for fruit farmers in 2025. The latest warning comes after the British Berry Growers [...]
Dairy giant Muller loses over £65m after Milk & More sale January 2, 2025 The UK and Ireland arm of dairy giant Muller slumped to a huge loss despite its sales rising by more than £100m, it has been revealed. The Shropshire-headquartered division of the German group fell to a pre-tax loss of £65.3m for 2023, delayed accounts show. The loss comes after the business also made a pre-tax [...]
Tax experts question £3m family farm IHT exemption as not ‘realistic’ December 27, 2024 The government’s claim that family farms will benefit from a £3m tax exemption has been questioned by tax experts. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has argued in defence of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ move in the Budget to charge inheritance tax (IHT) on agricultural land worth above £1m. He said earlier this month that in a [...]
Hedge fund managers could buy land, MPs told, as Tories fail to scrap ‘farm tax’ December 4, 2024 Hedge fund managers could buy up farmland if UK farmers sell up to avoid the inheritance levy, MPs were told, as the Tories brought a vote on the so-called ‘family farms tax’. Conservative MPs used an opposition day debate on Wednesday to bring a Commons vote on Labour’s Budget measure which would see farmers pay [...]