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 [...]
CBI boss warns Rachel Reeves’ farm tax will undermine growth push Economics Speaking at the National Farmers' Union's (NFU) conference, Newton-Smith said there was no sector more "foundational" to the UK economy than farming.
Inheritance tax: Ministers urged to ‘do right thing’ ahead of farming summit February 25, 2025 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 [...]
James Dyson: Reeves’ inheritance tax hike ‘is killing geese that lay golden eggs’ January 27, 2025 Billionaire Sir James Dyson has again hit out at Rachel Reeves for her tax raid budget, saying British family businesses are being “fleeced”. The British entrepreneur, 77, hit out at the Chancellor in a letter to The Times, writing that Reeves will “kill off” British family businesses with a “vindictive” budget, including inheritance tax hikes. [...]
St Ewe Free Range Eggs on the ‘utter carnage’ of IHT reform and rebuilding trust with Labour January 25, 2025 For Rebecca Tonks, running St Ewe Eggs has been a passion project for 17 years. Tonks, who was 12 when her family first started selling eggs in addition to its dairy produce, launched the St. Ewe Free Range Eggs brand to UK supermarkets in 2007 under the Red Lion accreditation. “It didn’t take very long for [...]
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 [...]