Dee Bee Wholesale is a long-established, family-owned independent wholesaler serving more than 1,400 retail and on-trade customers across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

Founded in 1961, the business has been operating for more than 65 years and reported annual sales of around £57m in its last financial year.

It employs 87 colleagues across two depots in Hull and Grimsby.

Bestway said the acquisition forms part of its strategic growth plans and will strengthen its delivered wholesale capability, as well as its support for independent retailers, convenience customers and on-trade operators across the region.

The wholesaler said the deal brings together two entrepreneurial businesses with deep roots in independent wholesale and retail, at a time when retailers are looking for stable and well-invested wholesale partners.

Bestway Wholesale managing director Dawood Pervez said: “We are delighted to welcome Dee Bee Wholesale into the Bestway Wholesale network.

“Dee Bee is a long-established family business with more than 65 years of customer service heritage, loyal customer base and detailed regional knowledge across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

“This reflects our continued confidence in the future of independent wholesale and retail.”

Dee Bee Wholesale managing director Nick Ramsden said the deal marked an important milestone for the business.

“Bestway Wholesale is a business with significant scale, ambition and a strong commitment to supporting independent retailers and customers,” he said.

“I am confident that becoming part of the Bestway Wholesale network will create new opportunities for the business and bring long-term benefits for customers, colleagues and suppliers alike.”

Ramsden said it would be “business as usual” for customers, with Dee Bee’s team, service and local relationships remaining in place.

He added that customers would also benefit from Bestway’s pricing, promotions and wider product range as the business is integrated into the wider network.

Pervez said: “Both businesses share a long-standing commitment to customer service, independent retail and supporting local businesses.

“The acquisition reinforces our ambition, our confidence in the wholesale sector and our commitment to being the partner of choice for independent retailers and suppliers across the UK.”

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The St Albans-based food manufacturer, which owns brands including Batchelors, Bisto, OXO and Mr Kipling, said its latest annual report showed a 14 per cent reduction in Scope 1 and 2 market-based emissions during the year.

It also reported a 16 per cent increase in sales of products meeting high nutritional standards, as it continued to invest across its UK manufacturing estate.

As part of the Planet pillar of its sustainability plan, Premier Foods completed a £2.1m investment in a new solar farm at its Carlton Bakery in South Yorkshire.

The 2.9-hectare site includes 3,500 solar panels and has the potential to supply nearly three quarters of the bakery’s electricity needs during peak production periods.

Premier Foods said the solar farm is expected to cut the site’s carbon emissions by around 468 tonnes a year, while improving energy resilience and reducing annual energy costs.

The project forms part of a wider solar investment programme across the group’s manufacturing sites.

Premier Foods has also completed two major steam boiler upgrades at its Worksop site, which produces brands including Batchelors, Bisto and OXO.

The £3.3m investment has improved energy efficiency at the facility and is expected to cut carbon emissions by around 686 tonnes a year.

The group also introduced heat recovery solutions at its Lifton Creamery and continued wider energy efficiency improvements across its operations.

Premier Foods ESG director Nick Brown said: “Our Enriching Life Plan continues to play a central role in how we grow the business responsibly.

“This year we have made meaningful progress across all three pillars of Product, Planet and People, from reducing carbon emissions and investing in renewable energy infrastructure, to expanding and investing in healthier product ranges and strengthening our support for more sustainable diets, while building the future culture, skills and capability to support business growth and supporting the local communities we operate in.”

Under the Product pillar of the plan, Premier Foods said it had reached its 2030 target ahead of schedule for more than half of its products to meet high nutritional standards and provide an additional registered health or nutrition benefit.

Health-focused launches during the year included OXO Bone Broth, which is made with natural ingredients and is high in protein and collagen.

The group said its acquisition of Merchant Gourmet had also strengthened its position in plant-based and minimally processed foods, adding a wider portfolio of pulses, grains and rice.

Premier Foods is also increasing its health reporting by voluntarily using metrics proposed by the government to track food sales and provide greater transparency for shoppers.

The metrics are based on those proposed by the Food Data Transparency Partnership and developed through a Department for Health and Social Care working group.

Premier Foods launched its Enriching Life Plan in 2021, setting targets across healthier products, carbon reduction, sustainable packaging, culture and skills, and community impact.

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Located on Gracechurch Street, the supermarket’s 10,200 sq ft store will stock fresh produce, ready-to-eat meals, baked goods, pantry staples, alcoholic drinks, juices, and grab-and-go options. 

Additionally, it will feature a self-serve coffee machine, seasonal produce, freshly baked pastries, cookies, organic bread, hot savoury items, soups, and rotisserie chickens. 

The store will sell a range of local favourites, from Good Grain Overnight Oats to Pip & Nut products, local craft beers, and Fresh Kitchen lunch options made exclusively for Whole Foods Market.

Deliveroo will also be available two weeks after the grocery giant’s shop’s opening.

To celebrate the opening, the first 200 customers in the shop’s queue will receive an exclusive tote bag and a £5 voucher to spend in store.

Monument store team leader Nevin Jayan said: “This part of the city, nicknamed The Square Mile, is the financial centre of London with an incredible history of trade and commerce. 

“Featuring a food venue with fresh food offerings and a specially curated range of products across all departments, the new store will add a unique option for both residents and workers in the area while also providing Whole Foods Market’s high quality and service.”

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The judicial review was brought by the Association of Independent Meat Suppliers and the British Meat Processors Association, which challenged the basis on which the regulator calculates and recovers charges for food hygiene and safety controls.

Presiding over the case, Mrs Justice Dias found that the FSA had been levying charges unlawfully.

The agency accepted that the court must quash the hourly rates applied to official controls and enforcement activities, as well as the supporting cost data used to calculate those rates.

Industry groups argued that businesses had been required to fund inefficiencies within the inspection system, including costs linked to contractor management arrangements.

It is understood further arguments about the ruling, which focuses on what activities and personnel can lawfully be included within the charges paid by slaughterhouses, will now be heard on the precise terms of the court order.

The case comes against the backdrop of rising regulatory costs for the sector. According to the claimants, annual charges for official controls currently total around £64m, with fees increasing by 24% this year, a sharp rise in an industry operating on low profit margins.

FSA chief executive Katie Pettifer said: “We have carefully considered the court’s judgment in the judicial review brought by AIMS regarding our meat inspection charges. 

“While the ruling does not challenge the principle that we can charge for meat inspection, we are disappointed with its conclusions about how charges are calculated. We acted in good faith in calculating our charge rates and in presenting the information we publish about them and are seeking leave to appeal the judgment.

“While the majority of our charges will not be in dispute, the ruling does create some uncertainty over some elements. We know businesses will want clarity on what this will ultimately mean in practice, and we will provide further information as quickly as the legal process allows.

“Food safety is non-negotiable. Our Official Vets and Meat Hygiene Inspectors carry out essential work every day that protects public health, upholds animal welfare, and underpins the £11.3 billion meat industry. That will not change.”

Among other risks, the industry warned such soaring costs will add to cost of living obstacles, food inflation and the fear it will endanger the viability of many slaughterhouses.

AIMS executive direcor Jason Aldiss said: “The judgment must now mark the beginning of a complete reset in the relationship between the regulator and the meat industry, founded upon legality, proportionality, transparency and scientific risk-based regulation.”

Meanwhile, John Powell, chief executive of BMPA, welcomed the ruling and said it exposed weaknesses in the FSA’s charging policy. He said the association would work with the regulator to establish a fairer and more transparent approach to delivering official controls.

NFU President Tom Bradshaw added: “Today’s ruling is a hugely significant outcome for the livestock sector and is a brilliant result for the meat industry, the NFU and our members. This has been a key issue we’ve consistently raised with government over many months due to the pressure these charges put on abattoirs.”

“The NFU has long‑held the view that these charges on abattoirs risk seriously impacting the wider livestock sector. It has consistently urged government to carry out a full review of the FSA’s charging regime to ensure that charges are fair and equitable and do not disadvantage UK businesses.

“Since the outbreak of the war in the Middle East the NFU has also asked government to postpone these charges and adopt a different approach to help ease cost pressures on livestock farmers.”

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The value retailer, which sells products across grocery, home, furniture and garden, reported a 26 per cent drop in annual profit after flat UK like-for-like sales and deeper price cuts weighed on performance.

B&M said the conflict in the Middle East was adding upward pressure to costs, creating a tougher backdrop for the business as it works through a turnaround plan following two profit warnings over the past year.

The group reported adjusted core profit of £459 million for the year ended 28 March.

It also pointed to a slow start to its key garden season, although better weather in late May helped drive a recovery in sales of seasonal categories.

The update comes as B&M looks to rebuild momentum after a challenging year, with shoppers continuing to seek value while remaining cautious on discretionary spend.

The retailer’s latest performance highlights the pressure facing even discount operators, as higher costs, fragile demand and increased promotional activity continue to weigh on margins.

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The food manufacturer, which has a portfolio that includes Birds Eye, Aunt Bessie’s and Findus, says the investments will fund a new potato waffle production line at the Suffolk site, increasing annual output capacity to around 18,250 tonnes, equivalent to nearly 45 million potato waffles a year.

The move forms part of Nomad Food’s wider programme to strengthen manufacturing efficiency across its European network.

The Lowestoft facility,  which began operations in 1949 and is now one of the UK’s longest-established food manufacturing sites, has also recently benefited from a £12m investment in chicken processing operations.

Plans for an on-site wind turbine are also progressing as the company seeks to improve long-term energy resilience.

“This latest investment at our Lowestoft site is testament to our long-term commitment to UK food manufacturing,” said Nomad Food’s chief supply chain officer Eduardo Bachiega.

“By increasing our production capacity we’re directly responding to consumer demand for household favourites, such as potato waffles, that are already being manufactured 24/7 at the factory.”

The company said that an increasing proportion of production from the Lowestoft site, circa 15%, is being exported to meet demand across European markets,

Bachiega added: “At a time of increasing pressure on global food systems, as well as ongoing cost-of-living challenges for consumers, we continue to invest in our operations ensuring key frozen food categories such as fish, vegetables, chicken and potatoes remain an accessible food choice for families across the UK and Europe.”

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