Client Newswrap: Andrex offers to ‘pay shoppers’ rent’ and Sainsbury’s to beat tax hike with bonus payments

Brands
A businessman from egg company Heart of England Eggs Unlimited has been sent to prison for his part in an organic and free-range egg scam. Keith Owen was jailed and ordered to pay £3m plus £250,000 in costs after Defra alleged he claimed millions of eggs laid by caged birds were free-range or organic.

Drinks industry giants Coca-Cola and Diageo have launched a joint marketing campaign, predicted to be worth around £230m in sales, to boost the sales of spirits and mixers as summer approaches. The companies’ Together For A Better Summer initiative will encourage shoppers to buy Coca-Cola’s Schweppes brand together with Diageo lines such as Smirnoff vodka and Gordon’s gin.

Andrex has joined forces with retailer Asda to offer consumers the chance to have their mortgage paid for a year in a new promotion. The competition, which starts today, will feature on 500,000 Andrex packs and give shoppers the opportunity to win up to £12,000 towards their rent or mortgage.

Executives from US food giant Kraft will appear in front of a committee of MPs this week to present evidence on its decision to close chocolate maker Cadbury‘s Somerdale plant. Directors from the company will stand before the Commons business, innovation and skills committee over claims its promises to protect jobs at the site in its buy-out of Cadbury were lies, but Kraft chief executive Irene Rosenfield will not appear.

A pay row at a Nestlé factory in York could spiral into nationwide strike action, according to newspaper The York Press. Members of unions GMB and Unite voted in favour of a ballot to decide if they would support industrial action short of a strike after the company rejected calls by workers for a 2.5% pay increase, but the unions have now revealed a straw poll will be held for members at Nestlé sites across the UK.

Retailers
Retail sales in Central London rose by almost 10% in February, according to figures from the British Retail Consortium. Sales for the month were 9.9% higher than a year ago on a like-for-like basis, suggesting the extreme weather at the beginning of the year caused a dip in sales in January.

The favourite food of muscle-bound cartoon sailor Popeye is back in vogue, according to Tesco. Spinach is currently the second-fastest growing canned vegetable after broad beans, says the retailer, with sales growing 24% year-on-year. Tesco canned food buyer Kate Evans attributed the success to celebrity chefs and health gurus highlighting the benefits of the veg.

Sainsbury’s will pay its bonuses early this year in order to beat the UK’s tax hike for higher earners next month. The supermarket will pay 1,200 senior managers three months earlier than usual so that the bonuses are taxed under the current rate of 40%, as opposed to the 50% rate for those earning over £150,000 that will come into force on 6 April. Experts have predicted more companies are likely to do the same, The Independent reported.

London’s historic department store Liberty has been sold by owners MWB Group Holdings for £41.5m. On completion of the deal, Liberty will lease back the famous Tudor-style building and continue to trade from the site. The sale is conditional on approval by MWB shareholders.

A three-part fly-on-the-wall documentary on John Lewis has started on BBC Two. Inside John Lewis, which shows the department store coping with the recession, focuses on its stores in Cardiff, Bristol and Newcastle. The company last week announced its profits had shot up by 20%, boosted by strong sales at its Waitrose supermarket.

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