Corporate governance: Board reformers must not rest on their laurels January 27, 2017 Six months ago, corporate governance suddenly shot to the top of the political agenda when Theresa May formally launched her Conservative Party leadership campaign. She said that the scrutiny non-executive directors provide “is just not good enough”, adding “we’re going to change that system – and we’re going to have not just consumers represented on [...]
Creme Egg on their face? Sales of Cadbury favourite drop after controversial recipe change January 12, 2016 It was the recipe change that provoked egg-sasperation among British consumers. A year ago today, confectionery fans across the UK were left shell-shocked, after Cadbury announced a changes the recipe of its much-loved Creme Eggs, abandoning its Dairy Milk recipe for the chocolate shell. "It's no longer Dairy Milk," a spokesman admitted at the time. "It is similar, but not [...]
Cadbury owner Mondelez and the incredible shrinking corporation tax December 7, 2015 Cadbury owner Mondelez has come under fire over arrangements which enable it to pay no corporation tax in the UK. The legal but controversial scheme allows the company to report losses in the UK, despite millions of pounds of revenue and global profits of billions. Under a "quoted Eurobond exemption" rule, the company makes interest [...]
Valentine’s Day 2016: Morrisons is selling oysters for 25p each ahead of Valentine’s Day – the same price as a Cadbury Freddo February 8, 2016 Lidl may be famous for its champagne, but one of the big four supermarkets appears to be fighting the competition by slashing the price of oysters ahead of Valentine's Day this year. Morrisons is to sell fresh British oysters for just 25p each – the price of an average Cadbury Freddo in a move to try to outshine its [...]
Toblerone bars in the UK have changed shape and no one is happy about it November 8, 2016 Fans of the Toblerone are bitterly disappointed after the company revealed a change to the shape and size of its popular chocolate bar. Mondelez International, who makes the product, has increased the gaps between the triangles to reduce the weight of two of its bars in the UK. It claims this is due to a rise in [...]
China M&A frenzy around the world set to continue according to Freshfields October 4, 2016 CHINA'S vast appetite for overseas acquisitions is laid bare in new M&A monitor by law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. The law firm found that China leads outbound M&A with 173 signed deals valued at $128.7bn, including a number of massive acquisitions in the first half of 2016 such as ChemChina’s $43bn bid for Swiss agrichemicals [...]
Business should embrace the government’s radical corporate governance proposals to strike a better relationship with the public November 29, 2016 What is it about luxury yachts that seems to get policy-makers so worked up? The UK’s Corporate Governance Code will be 25 years old next year and it’s worth reflecting on why it came into existence. It was the collapse of Robert Maxwell’s business empire that led to the first Cadbury Code, which has evolved [...]
Cadbury is changing another chocolate iconic recipe – this time it’s Fruit & Nut November 3, 2015 Bad news, chocolate lovers: Cadbury is changing another iconic recipe. Fresh from the backlash over the changes to its Creme Eggs – resulting in the brand having egg on its face – and dismay over the shrinking sizes of its variety boxes Roses and Heroes parent company Mondelez is preparing for another battle – this time over its much-loved Fruit [...]
How SoftBank won “national interest” backing from Theresa May for its “game-changing” Arm takeover November 7, 2016 Even the most devout follower of the London Stock Exchange’s RNS feed may have been confused by a statement issued by SoftBank last week. The Japanese lender published the number of staff employed by British tech giant Arm, a company it acquired in a £24bn mega-deal over the summer, as at 5 September. The figure, [...]
Not so sweet: Cadbury owner Mondelez posts eighth consecutive quarterly revenue decline October 28, 2015 Mondelez, the global snack company that owns Cadbury chocolate and Oreo cookies, yesterday reported a fall in revenues for the eighth straight quarter, with a particularly bitter European performance. The company's global revenues fell by 17.8 per cent to $6.85bn (£4.49bn), while its European division – its biggest market – saw a 32.4 per cent [...]