Newswrap: Green staff and chocolate crisps

On Saturday, The Guardian featured a column by Simon Hoggart that questioned recycling. “The market for recycled paper has collapsed, so there’s no point in sorting that, and the glass is mainly used for road beds, since it is hard but permeable. No point in recycling that anyway: there is no world shortage of sand. Most household rubbish around the country still goes into landfill anyway,” he said. He added that recycling has a religious quality.

The Sunday Times had a piece on the rise of companies throwing their weight behind energy-from-waste projects. It also reported that Tesco and DSG International will post their weakest Christmas sales figures since the recession of the early 1990s this week.

The Mail on Sunday reported that Sainsbury’s chief executive Justin King is to participate in a four-part reality TV series – I’m running Sainsbury’s – on Channel 4 this summer. Shop-floor workers will take on various aspects of running the business. It also suggested that King had been tipped to replace Marks and Spencer boss Stuart Rose when he stands down.

Retailers

Patrick Cescau has been appointed as a non-executive director to the board at Tesco. Cescau was group chief executive of Unilever for four years.

The number of profit warnings by UK-listed companies hit a seven-year high in 2008, according to research by accountancy group Ernst & Young.  It found that warnings by firms listed on the London Stock Exchange hit 449 last year, 17% more than in 2007.

Frozen-food retailer Iceland is to create 2,500 new jobs in England after buying 51 former Woolworths stores.

Asda‘s environmentally conscious work force are being hailed as one of the reasons that the supermarket can ‘roll back’ its prices in a new TV ad. It shows that their decisions to turn off lights in the warehouse, and recycle cardboard packaging help the supermarket to lower the price of goods.

Aldi has announced a £1.5bn package to open 50 stores and create more than 1,200 jobs.
The German budget supermarket has around 500 shops across the UK and Ireland.

Primark, the high street budget fashion chain, has reportedly removed a logo endorsing the ethical credentials of its clothing after a newspaper report alleged that two of its suppliers are breaking employment and immigration laws.

DIY store B&Q is reported to be reviewing its £40m advertising contract. It is said to be drawing up a shortlist of agencies and an appointment is expected by summer 2009.

Brands

Walkers is to introduce crisps that taste of chilli and chocolate, onion bhaji, cajun squirrel, fish and chips, crispy duck and hoi sin, and builder’s breakfast. The new flavours, suggested by the general public, can be bought in supermarkets until May.

Premier Foods is selling a 40% stake in the business to private equity in a bid to reduce its £1.6bn debt burden.

Around 420 jobs were under threat at frozen food firm Newcastle Productions today after it went into administration. The company, which is licensed to manufacture and distribute Findus food in the UK, called in administrators Zolfo Cooper on Friday.

Estee Lauder has been forced to pull ads for its Tri-Aktiline Instant Deep Wrinkle Filler because the Advertising Standards Authority said its claims did not stand up to scrutiny.

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