John Lewis removes CEO position

Plus, grocery prices climb, BP abandons green targets, the scandal of food waste and business lessons distilled from bourbon

John Lewis and partners store front sign

Struggling giant John Lewis Partnership is rumoured to be slashing 11,000 jobs

This article is an online version of our Off to Lunch newsletter. Sign up to receive it straight to your inbox here.

Business Agenda

A summary of the most important business news

Grocery prices climbed by 2 per cent in September compared to a year ago. According to Kantar data, this has been driven by rising costs in items like soft drinks, chocolate and skincare. Despite the overall increase, supermarkets have reduced prices on essentials like toilet paper and pet food. Tesco has hit its highest market share since 2017, at 28 per cent of the market, a slight increase on 27.4 per cent a year ago. You can read more here.

The John Lewis Partnership is eliminating its chief executive role as new chairman Jason Tarry leads its turnaround strategy. Current CEO Nish Kankiwala will transition to a non-executive director role in March next year. Tarry, who spent years in various executive roles at Tesco, is tasked with guiding John Lewis and Waitrose through continued recovery, following a challenging period marked by job cuts and shop closures. You can read more here.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to meet with the chief executives of major UK banks this week amid concerns over potential tax increases in her upcoming budget. The discussions, involving Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest and Santander, come ahead of the International Investment Summit and Reeves’ first budget as chancellor. Bank leaders are expected to advocate for policies supporting economic growth and challenge any measures they feel could hinder investment. You can read more here.

BP is reportedly set to abandon its target of cutting oil and gas production by 25 per cent by 2030, as new CEO Murray Auchincloss shifts focus to profitability and closing the valuation gap with rivals. The move follows pressure from investors to prioritise oil and gas output over renewable investments and marks a shift from the company’s earlier 40 per cent reduction goal set in 2020. While the decision has drawn criticism from environmentalists, BP has also halted new offshore wind projects to streamline operations and reduce costs, aiming to regain investor confidence amidst underperformance in its share price. You can read more here.

Lab-grown meat could soon be on sale in the UK, with applications for cultivated beef, chicken, and foie gras already under review by the Food Standards Agency. Backed by £1.6m in government funding, the FSA is developing a safety assessment process to approve these products, which could hit shelves in a few years. While safety concerns are being addressed, the UK is seen as an attractive market due to its openness to new foods and growing interest in sustainable alternatives. You can read more here.

Business Question

What percentage of global businesses now allocate specific budget for R&D into AI?

A. 86 per cent
B. 67 per cent
C. 52 per cent
D. 39 per cent

The answer can be found at the bottom of the page.

Business Thinker

Deep dives on business and leadership

By Sarah Vizard

🧴 The skincare guru who sold out to Unilever and lived to tell the tale

Kate Somerville founded her eponymous skincare brand more than 20 years and in 2015 sold it to Unilever. Earlier this year, the FMCG company was reported to be mulling a sale of the brand as it looks to streamline its luxury beauty portfolio. In this interview with The Times, Somerville talks about why selling was right for her, to help her avoid burnout, but the challenges it has thrown up as well.

👂 The hearing aid revolution that wasn’t

Just last year, over-the-counter hearing aids were made available in the US. The hope was it would usher in a period of innovation and make them better and cheaper for users. The reality hasn’t lived up to this. They are being returned at high rates, with people complaining of poor audio quality and a lack of customer service. This piece from the Wall Street Journal explores why the expected advances haven’t materialised – and whether Apple’s entry into the market could change this.

🍔 The scandal of food waste and how we can stop it

The Guardian has published a deep dive into the issue of food waste. The United Nations Environment Programme estimates that about 17 per cent of total global food production is wasted, while the global average for household waste is 74kg per person per year. Everyone agrees that reducing this is critical to feeding the world’s population and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Yet progress has been slow. This piece explores what more could be done.

Business Quote

Inspiration from leaders

“Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th.”

– Julie Andrews

Business Leader

The best of our content

Business lessons distilled from bourbon

What does it take to build a global whiskey brand from scratch, even though the spirits industry is notoriously difficult to crack?

That is the subject of our latest podcast episode with Fawn Weaver, who has scaled the whiskey brand Uncle Nearest. Started in 2017, it hit annual revenues of $100m in 2022 and Forbes now estimates the company to be worth $1bn.

Her whiskey stands out because it is inspired by the story of the first known African American master distiller, Nathan “Nearest” Green. He was a former slave who worked very closely with Jack Daniel.

Weaver calls Green the “greatest whiskey maker the world never knew.” When Weaver read about Green’s story in a New York Times article in 2016, she immediately spotted a business opportunity. She collected all the trademarks she could think of connected to the ‘Nearest’ and ‘Green’ names.

“My husband says, ‘some women love purses, my wife loves LLCs’, limited liability companies,” jokes Weaver. She thinks there is no point in pursuing business ideas without that commitment in place.

Weaver explains to Business Leader some of the secrets that helped her scale her whiskey challenger brand, from dealing with distributors to taking a personal hand in media relations.

You can listen to the episode here.

And finally…

The BBC Sound Archive has been opened to the public! It’s an amazing library of searchable sounds that BBC producers have used over the years to produce effects for radio and TV programmes.

You can fall down a rabbit hole searching all kinds of strange noises. Here are some things I found: cash registers from 1982, a barman clinking glasses (useful for today’s podcast), squeaky robot voices and a Peregrine Falcon’s distress call.

All very diverting. But if you make podcasts, for example, you might find this a useful resource.

The answer to today’s Business Question is A. 86 per cent