88-412: Food Giant may refer to: Food Giant (UK retailer) , a defunct supermarket chain owned by Somerfield Food Giant (Missouri retailer) , an American chain owned by Houchens Industries See also [ edit ] Giant Food (disambiguation) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
176-533: A 45% stake and in September 2005 it announced that Honda would be buying the remaining 55% stake. The team raced as Honda Racing F1 Team in 2006, the last year of the Lucky Strike sponsorship before leaving the sport. For the 2006 season , the team was renamed as Honda F1 Racing Team, with BAT only advertised at a couple of races. All links between the two companies were severed for 2007 . In 2019, McLaren signed
264-511: A 67.8% holding in the Serbian tobacco company Duvanska Industrija Vranje (DIV) , allowing local manufacture of its brands, freeing them from import duties. In the longer term, export opportunities are planned as neighbouring countries in south east Europe developed free trade agreements. In July 2004, the U.S. business of British American Tobacco (Brown & Williamson) was combined with that of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (R. J. Reynolds), under
352-546: A dynamic global organization. In 1997 BAT brought its participation in the sport to new levels with the purchase of the Tyrrell team for approximately £30 million. The team raced as Tyrrell for the 1998 season before being renamed as British American Racing (BAR). In 2005, a European Union (EU) directive was brought into force which required national governments to legislate to prevent tobacco sponsorship. In 2004, BAR announced that technology partner Honda had purchased
440-489: A fine for the companies' advertising and marketing campaign allegedly targeting Nigerian youth, and has asked the companies to fund an awareness campaign to educate young people about the dangers of their product. Several Nigerian state governments filed similar petitions. The government withdrew its lawsuit in February 2008. In 2008, the company was the subject of a BBC Two documentary, in which Duncan Bannatyne investigated
528-577: A get-out clause for the case of a major change of ownership. In 2003, BAT acquired Ente Tabacchi Italiani (ETI) S.p.A., Italy's state tobacco company. The important acquisition would elevate BAT to the number two position in Italy, the second largest tobacco market in the European Union. The scale of the enlarged operations would bring significant opportunities to compete and grow ETI's local brands and BAT's international brands. In August 2003, BAT acquired
616-658: A landmark case that pitted them against three Canadian cigarette giants, including JTI-Macdonald Corp. In 2012, British American Tobacco, along with Philip Morris International and Imperial Tobacco , sued the Australian Commonwealth government. At the High Court of Australia , they argued that the Commonwealth's plain packaging legislation was unconstitutional because it usurped the companies' intellectual property rights and good will on other than just terms. However,
704-662: A lullaby in Chinese, while Albert acts as his "Lookout" (for police officers). In the coming of age play and film Beautiful Thing written by Jonathan Harvey , the main character Jamie asks Tony (the new-age lover of his mother Sandra) where they met, to which he responds "Gateways". Gateway was specifically mentioned by Victor Meldrew in One Foot in the Grave after the local newspaper erroneously reported that Victor had 'gone to ground', when in fact he had 'gone to Gateway'. In one episode of
792-623: A multi-year partnership deal with BAT through its transformation agenda "A Better Tomorrow", bringing the company back into Formula 1 for the first time since Honda succeeded BAR. This was also the second tobacco related deal signed since Formula 1 banned tobacco advertising in 2006. In late 2019, BAT and McLaren announced the signing of an enhanced partnership deal that saw BAT become a principal partner of McLaren with increased branding position. McLaren advertises BAT's New Category product brands Vuse (previously Vype) & Velo (previously Lyft) on their F1 and IndyCar cars. Vuse also partnered with
880-494: A new Food Giant discount brand, with the first store opening in Nottingham in 1991. Two years later, a further chief executive, David Simons, was in the post. In May 1994, the company changed its name to Somerfield plc. According to The Guardian newspaper, the holding company almost collapsed in the 1990s under a "mountain of debt". In 1996, Somerfield plc was floated on the stock market in an initial public offering , after
968-435: A series of store closures was announced as Somerfield's new owners continued their restructuring activity. Some of these were poorly performing Somerfield stores and some were former Kwik Save sites that had not proved successful after being converted to Somerfield stores in 2006. Some stores were sold to other groups, including Sainsbury's , which bought five stores, while others were closed completely. In October 2006, it
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#17330856147091056-629: A share in a factory in Burma. This made it the target of criticism from human rights groups. It sold its share of the factory in 2003 after an "exceptional request" from the British government. In 2002, BAT lost a lawsuit about the right to sell cigarettes under the Marlboro brand name in the UK. It had acquired Rothmans, which had previously bought a licence to use the name from Philip Morris. Philip Morris' attorneys invoked
1144-764: The Johannesburg Stock Exchange . BAT plc ordinary shares are also listed on the New York Stock Exchange in the form of American Depositary Shares . The company was formed in 1902, when the United Kingdom's Imperial Tobacco Company and the United States' American Tobacco Company agreed to form a joint venture , the "British-American Tobacco Company Ltd." The parent companies agreed not to trade in each other's domestic territory and to assign trademarks, export businesses and overseas subsidiaries to
1232-537: The Zurich Financial Services Group . The company's board is chaired by Luc Jobin, appointed in 2021. It's non-executive board members are Holly Keller Koeppel, Kandy Anand, Karen Guerra, Murray Kessler, Véronique Laury, Darrell Thomas and Serpil Timuray. British American Tobacco Ghana Limited is a public limited company operated by British American in Ghana . The company is listed ( GSE : BAT ) on
1320-649: The stock index of the Ghana Stock Exchange , the GSE All-Share Index . It was formed in 1999 out of a merger between the Pioneer Tobacco Company and Meridian Tobacco. BAT have found many imaginative ways over the years to keep its brands in the public eye. ITC Limited , in which BAT holds a minority share, as recently as 1996 secured an arrangement to sponsor the Cricket World Cup which
1408-614: The 102 Kwik Save sites it had retained under its own name and a further 77 stores were sold to other retailers, thought to include Netto and Aldi , leaving the company to focus solely on the Somerfield brand. Subsequent to the initial sale, a further 19 Kwik Save stores were acquired by BTTF, including some of those included in the Competition Commission investigation ruling into the Safeway Compact takeover. In August 2006,
1496-593: The American Tobacco Company sold its share of the company. Imperial Tobacco gradually reduced its shareholding, but it was not until 1980 that it divested its remaining interests in the company. At its peak in 1937, BAT manufactured and distributed 55 billion cigarettes in China. The company's assets were seized by the Japanese in 1941 following their 1937 invasion . In 1949 the company was ejected from China following
1584-495: The Co-op has become the largest community retailer, with specialities in convenience stores and smaller supermarkets . At one point in early 2007, Somerfield was also briefly surpassed in size by Waitrose . The branch of Somerfield in Wells , Somerset , England had featured prominently in the film Hot Fuzz (2007) and Somerfield branding was clearly visible. In the film the manager of
1672-561: The Co-operative Group on 2 March 2009 in a £1.57 billion deal, creating the UK's fifth-largest food retailer. The Somerfield name was replaced by the Co-operative brand in a rolling programme of store conversions ending in summer 2011. The company had its origins in a Bristol -based grocer known as J.H. Mills which was founded in 1875 and which developed a self-service supermarket chain named Gateway Foodmarkets in 1960. During
1760-540: The Company in 2003. Then in 2005, Icelandic venture capital group Baugur made an approach, while United Co-operatives and London & Regional Properties also expressed an interest, but both groups dropped out of the running. Then on 21 December 2005, Somerfield plc was acquired for £1.1 billion by a consortium consisting of Apax Partners , Barclays Capital and the Tchenguiz Family Trust , at which time
1848-509: The Croatian tobacco company TDR d.o.o. Brands and Factory in Kanfanar . In October 2016, BAT offered to buy the remaining 57.8 per cent of U.S. cigarette maker Reynolds American in a $ 47 billion takeover that would create the world's biggest listed tobacco company with brands including Newport, Lucky Strike and Pall Mall. In January 2017, Reynolds agreed to an increased $ 49.4 billion deal. The deal
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#17330856147091936-495: The German-based Tchibo brand, however this ceased by 2009. In October 2004, Somerfield acquired 114 Safeway Compact stores from Morrisons , which were subsequently re branded under the Somerfield name. This deal was referred to the Competition Commission . After completing its investigation, the commission instructed Somerfield to sell 12 stores. In September 2005, Somerfield announced its intention to appeal against
2024-538: The Kohl's department stores and two Marshall Field's divisions, The Crescent and Frederick & Nelson ; BATUS closed Gimbels the same year, with many locations being absorbed by sister division Marshall Field's, as well as Allied Stores' Stern's and Pomeroy's divisions. In 1990, Dayton Hudson Corporation (now Target Corporation ) purchased Marshall Field's, Dillard's purchased Ivey's (another Marshall Field's division), Investcorp S.A. purchased Saks Fifth Avenue, and Argos
2112-461: The Kwik Save brand. A few months later Simons resigned. The original plan to transfer all Kwik Save stores to the Somerfield branding was quickly abandoned after it became clear that many outlets were not suitable for conversion, either due to size or location. Also, the downmarket wooden shelving and poor quality fittings used by Kwik Save meant that every conversion required a full refurbishment of
2200-545: The McLaren F1 Team to race bespoke liveries designed by emerging artists for the 2021 to 2023 Abu Dhabi Grands Prix . In April 2024, McLaren announced a partnership extension with BAT, which includes the partnership being extended to the McLaren Formula E Team . As far back as 1958, BAT had information that cigarettes cause cancer. Three senior BAT scientists – H.R. Bentley, D.G.I. Felton, and W.W. Reid – travelled to
2288-520: The R. J. Reynolds name. R. J. Reynolds and Brown & Williamson were the second and third-ranking U.S. tobacco companies prior to the combination. When they combined, R. J. Reynolds became a subsidiary of Reynolds American , with BAT holding a 42% share. In January 2007, BAT closed its remaining UK production plant in Southampton with the loss of over 600 jobs. However, the global research and development operation, and some financial functions, continue on
2376-620: The Somerfield Direct board. At the time, Somerfield Direct only covered the South West of England from its base in Bristol. With the incorporation of Supermarket Direct, Somerfield Direct extended its range to the London area. While other home shopping services were providing internet ordering, at this point Somerfield Direct was a catalogue and call-centre operation, chief executive Simons expressing
2464-453: The Somerfield branding, but the group continued to suffer from a disparate store portfolio, the result of numerous ill-digested acquisitions by Kwik Save prior to the Somerfield takeover. At the end of 1999, Simons, facing strong criticism from the city, announced plans to sell a third of the company's 1,400 stores. He admitted that the group had underestimated the difference between Somerfield and Kwik Save, and had failed to support and maintain
2552-560: The United States that year and talked to dozens of experts inside and outside of the tobacco industry. According to industry documents, all but one of those consulted believed a connection between cigarettes and cancer had been proved. Industry documents from the 1970s to the late 1990s shows that tobacco companies were seriously concerned about fatwas against smoking by Muslim jurists in Muslim majority countries . In 1996, an internal document from British American Tobacco warned that, because of
2640-607: The awareness of health risks from smoking is very low or nonexistent. In September 2001, BAT invested US$ 7.1 million in North Korean state-owned enterprise called the Korea Sogyong Trading Corporation, which employs 200 people in Pyongyang to produce up to two billion cigarettes a year. The operation is run by BAT's Singapore Division. Brands of cigarettes produced are Kumgansan, Craven A and Viceroy. BAT claims that
2728-404: The budget 'Makes Sense' range became 'Simply Value', the low calories 'Good Intentions' range became 'Healthy Choice', and the premium 'So Good' range became 'Best Ever!'. A new strapline "Giving you what you want" was introduced to reflect this. In 2005, Somerfield closed 22 of its 51 Scottish Kwik Save stores and rebranded the remainder under its own name, thus removing the Kwik Save brand from
Food Giant - Misplaced Pages Continue
2816-589: The business or to its head office in Manchester, to try to avoid redundancies. The takeover was officially completed on 2 March 2009. The conversion and rebranding of Somerfield stores into Coop stores took just over two years and was completed by summer 2011. Somerfield entered into a contract with ParkingEye Ltd. for the operation of store car parks, allowing customers a period of free parking and allowing ParkingEye to levy charges and retain payments from customers who overstayed their permitted parking time. The contract
2904-412: The chain up for sale. News reports valued the chain at over £1.5 billion. Somerfield appointed Citigroup to manage the sale, and a preference to sell as a going concern rather than on a piecemeal basis was reported. It emerged that four provisional bids were made. Only the Co-operative Group, the UK's largest co-operative, publicly announced purchase talks, aiming to complete due diligence for
2992-461: The chain's free Home Delivery service. In 1998, the company took over the Kwik Save chain in a £473 million transaction. Although the deal was billed as a merger of equals, Somerfield investors owned 62.5% of the enlarged group. Observers questioned whether putting together two very different businesses would solve either's problems. The initial plan was to convert most of the Kwik Save stores to
3080-674: The challenge was unsuccessful. In November 2014, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) fined BAT £650,000 after it determined that the company glutted the Belgian market with tobacco products with the likelihood these products would illegally find themselves back into the UK, with UK excise taxes not paid. The event highlighted a tobacco-smuggling issue that many anti-tobacco activists have been attempting to bring to light for years. Following several investigations, HMRC reportedly seized more than 1.4 billion cigarettes and 330 tons of hand rolling tobacco in 2013–2014. BAT denied all claims and described
3168-563: The cigarettes are produced only for consumption in North Korea, although there are allegations that the cigarettes are smuggled for sale overseas. British American Tobacco was declared the winner of the 2008 Roger Award , the award for the worst transnational corporation operating in New Zealand. British American Tobacco spent more than €700,000 lobbying the EU in 2008, up to four times as much as
3256-443: The company declared on the EU's register of interest representatives, according to a report by Corporate Europe Observatory . The report argues that BAT's hidden lobbying activities, which are clearly not in the public interest, should be exposed to public scrutiny. The three largest Canadian tobacco companies, Imperial Tobacco Canada (a division of British American Tobacco), JTI-Macdonald Corp and Rothmans Benson & Hedges, were
3344-404: The company on the stock market within three to five years. However, the bid was highly leveraged, and it was not clear that the new company would be able to fund the necessary modernisation of the business. Some of the planned disposals of non-core businesses took longer than expected to complete. Financial strains led to the enforced departure of David Smith and other executives in 1991. In
3432-479: The company was the subject of a £2bn takeover bid from a newly formed company, Isosceles; the deal was partly financed by a pre-arranged sale of 61 Gateway stores to Asda . When Isosceles, a newly created financial group led by David Smith and backed by several big investment institutions, bid successfully for Gateway in 1989 and took the company private, the plan was to restructure the business and refocus it on what were called "middle ground" outlets, falling between
3520-438: The court stated that the court reinforced long established legal authority for "the justice of treating a party who deliberately sets out to break the law in a serious respect, such as overloading a vessel, differently from a party who breaks the law without meaning to do so or in a way which may be minor". As an independent entity, Somerfield was the sixth largest food retailer in the UK, according to TNS Worldpanel , following
3608-438: The decision, a process delayed by a takeover bid for the chain. The Competition Appeal Tribunal upheld the commission's decision in February 2006. Somerfield therefore had to proceed with sale of the 12 stores. However, the sale of Kwik Save in February 2006 is likely to have removed the potential clashes between some of the offending stores. Retail entrepreneurs John Lovering and Bob Mackenzie made two failed bids to take over
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3696-466: The early 1970s, Gateway operated primarily in the southwest of England with a few stores elsewhere. Ford and Lock stores and S&H Pink Stamp acquisitions took place during the period when loyalty stamps were prevalent and the first freezer centres were opened. Gateway Foodmarkets was taken over by Linfood Holdings, a consortium which already owned the Frank Dee Supermarkets which operated over
3784-472: The entire estate of 900 Somerfield stores in the third quarter, but would be expected to sell a minority of stores. On 24 June, a Thomson Reuters newswire reported sources indicating that the Co-operative Group's acquisition of Somerfield could be finalised at the start of July, in a final deal worth £1.7 billion. Earlier in June, Morrisons confirmed that it was not bidding for Somerfield, but would consider
3872-489: The existing Gateway warehousing site in Bristol. Alec Monk , chief executive of the Dee Corporation, having escaped a takeover bid from Argyll Foods in 1981, decided to create his own supermarket empire. Three of the biggest acquisitions were of Key Markets Supermarkets from Fitch Lovell , International Stores , bought from British American Tobacco in 1984, and Fine Fare , bought from Associated British Foods
3960-506: The following year, a new chief executive, Bob Willett, was appointed and a decision was taken to rebrand the company's operations as Somerfield after a successful pilot scheme in 1990 with a new store and the first Somerfield store in the country being built in Burnham on Sea , Somerset , and the company then built its success upon the new brand alongside the existing Gateway and Food Giant chains. A small number of stores were also relaunched under
4048-536: The following year. The company also purchased the UK arm of the French retailer, Carrefour when the French retailer exited Britain in the late 1980s. By this time, the Dee Corporation had over 1,100 stores and nearly 12% of the market, not far behind Sainsbury's and Tesco . Most of the Dee Corporation's outlets were small, high-street stores. Monk argued that there was a future for well-run conventional supermarkets as well as
4136-495: The foundation of the People's Republic . In 1976 the Group companies were reorganised under a new holding company, "B.A.T. Industries". In 1994 BAT acquired its former parent, American Tobacco Company (though reorganised after anti-trust proceedings). This brought the Lucky Strike and Pall Mall brands into BAT's portfolio. In 1999 it merged with Rothmans International , which included
4224-491: The joint venture. James Buchanan Duke became company chairman supported by Hugo Cunliffe-Owen (later Chairman) and Albert Jeffress (later Deputy Chairman); then business was begun in countries as diverse as Canada, China, Germany, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia, but not in the United Kingdom or in the United States. In China, BAT inherited a factory in the Pudong district of Shanghai from W.D. & H.O. Wills , one of
4312-576: The large out-of-town stores. However, by 1987 the Dee Corporation ran into problems, mainly because of the difficulty of integrating so many disparate businesses. Some disposals were made in that year, including the Linfood wholesaling operation. In 1988, the Dee Corporation changed its name to the Gateway Corporation, and a new retailing chief was recruited from the US. Investors remained sceptical, and in 1989
4400-452: The larger out of town superstores and smaller, inner-city neighbourhood shops; the average size of the stores was between 5,000 sq ft (460 m ) and 10,000 sq ft (930 m ). The promoters of the Isosceles bid believed that, after this disposal and extensive restructuring of the rest of the portfolio, Gateway could become a viable competitor; the intention was to re-float
4488-612: The marketing practices of the company in Africa and specifically the way the company targets younger Africans with branded music events, competitions and the sale of single cigarette sticks. Many of the practices uncovered by Bannatyne appeared to break BAT's own code of conduct and company standards. Towards the end of the programme, Bannatyne interviewed Chris Proctor, Head of Science and Regulation, in which Proctor admitted that advertisements targeting children from three African countries were 'disappointing'. In many of these undeveloped countries,
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#17330856147094576-524: The marketplace north of the border. After the group was taken over, it was reported that the new owners found the Kwik Save chain was losing £40m per year, effectively cancelling out around 40% of the profits generated by the Somerfield division. As a result, it increased the rate of converting stores from Kwik Save to Somerfield. On 27 February 2006, Somerfield Stores Ltd sold the Kwik Save brand and 171 stores to BTTF, an investment vehicle headed by Paul Niklas, for an undisclosed sum. Somerfield re-branded
4664-454: The name Somerfield Direct in early 1999. As a call centre operated service, customers would telephone the company to order Somerfield produce, which would be delivered direct from the warehouse. After the launch, Somerfield bought Supermarket Direct in April 1999 for £3.25 million to extend the range of Somerfield Direct, and Supermarket Direct partners Dominick Scott-Flanagan and David Noble joined
4752-514: The name of the group changed to Somerfield Ltd. The aim of the new owners was to simplify the business and attract new customers. The first move was the end of the Saver Card loyalty scheme in May 2006 with promotional deals becoming available to all customers. A new point of sale was introduced to make promotions and price cuts more visible to customers. Somerfield's three own-label brands were overhauled;
4840-456: The north and east of England. At the time, Frank Dee Supermarkets and the larger DEE Discount stores were a business larger than Gateway and had a chain of 79 supermarkets, in 1977. In 1983, Linfood Holdings was renamed the Dee Corporation. Initial plans were proposed to utilise the distribution depots on three main sites; the thriving Frank Dee's purpose built facilities in Anlaby and Billingham, and
4928-537: The precursor companies of Imperial Tobacco. Under the management of James Augustus Thomas from Lawsonville, in North Carolina 's Rockingham County, by 1919 the Shanghai factory was producing more than 243 million cigarettes per week. Thomas worked closely with the local Wing Tai Vo Tobacco Company, which developed into BAT's principal Chinese partner after its success with the "Ruby Queen" cigarette brand. In 1911,
5016-424: The premium 'So Good' range, the low fat 'Good Intentions', and a new advertising strapline: "Good Food Made Easy". This strapline later changed several times - see the list of slogans mentioned earlier on this page. A low-price own brand label called 'Makes Sense' was introduced to compete with rival low-cost brands, such as Tesco Value. At some time in the mid-2000s, some stores started selling products labelled under
5104-584: The product would be test-marketed in Portland, Oregon and Austin, Texas by the end of the month. BAT has diversified into various fields at different times in its history. Its U.S. retail division, BATUS Retail Group , acquired Gimbels , Kohl's , and Saks Fifth Avenue in the 1970s and Marshall Field's and its divisions in 1982. It purchased the United Kingdom retail chain Argos in 1979. The company sold Kohl's grocery stores to A&P in 1983. In 1986, BATUS sold
5192-450: The purchase of any stores that are sold after the acquisition. Newspaper sources said that other major supermarket chains are also interested in such purchases. In July 2008, the Co-operative Group announced a deal to purchase Somerfield for £1.57 billion, creating the fifth largest supermarket chain in the UK. It was confirmed on 20 October 2008 that the Office of Fair Trading had approved
5280-416: The recovery had reached the point where flotation became feasible with a market value of around £600M, and the proceeds were used to repay banks that had lent to Isosceles. At the time of the flotation the company's market share had fallen to 5.3%, its lowest level for two years, but Simons claimed that the company was now clearly positioned in the market, and that the business would benefit from what he saw as
5368-1539: The rights to all of these brands in every nation they are marketed. Local brands owned by British American Tobacco include: Benson & Hedges , John Players Gold Leaf, Dunhill , Lucky Strike, Hollywood, Derby (Bangladesh), State Express 555 (Vietnam), Belmont (Colombia, Chile, Nicaragua and Venezuela), Jockey Club (Argentina), Stradbroke (Australia), Hollywood , Derby, Free, Minister and Plaza (Brazil), du Maurier (Canada), Prince (Denmark), North State (Finland), HB (Germany), Sopianae (Hungary), Wills (India), Ardath, Bentoel, and Tali Jagat (Indonesia), Carrolls, Carrolls Kings, Grand Parade, Black Allen (Germany), Sweet Afton , Major (Ireland), Boots, Alas (Mexico), Gold Leaf (Bangladesh, Pakistan), Jan III Sobieski (Poland), Yava Gold (Russia), Courtleigh, Peter Styvesant (South Africa), Kent, Pall Mall, Perilly's , Peter Stuyvesant , and Rothmans ( Malaysia ), Parisienne (Switzerland), Kent and Maltepe (Turkey), Xon, Astra and Karvon (Uzbekistan), Craven A (Vietnam and Jamaica) as well as BAT snus, Holiday, Freedom and Park Drive (New Zealand), Royals (UK and Malta), Embassy (Kenya), Viceroy , Newport, Lucky Strike in Dominican Republic and Delta in El Salvador. On 11 June 2006, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company announced that it would manufacture Camel brand snus in Sweden in partnership with British American Tobacco;
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#17330856147095456-507: The sale of Somerfield under the condition that 133 stores must be sold. This process continued into 2009 with many stores changing ownership, for example to Lidl . In February 2009, it was announced that The Co-operative Group planned to close the Somerfield head office in Bristol and relocate all operations to its existing head office in Manchester . The Co-operative said that it would try to relocate as many staff as possible to other areas of
5544-452: The sale of the Kwik Save unit and the closure or sale of unprofitable stores, with 977 stores (as of January 2007). Also the fifth largest private company in the UK, Somerfield had a 3.8% share of the UK grocery market in 2007, down from 4.5% in 2006. The five larger retailers (in descending order of size) were Tesco , Asda , Sainsbury's , Morrisons and The Co-operative Group . The top four have specialities in larger superstores, while
5632-457: The same show, a Gateway store can be seen in the background. British American Tobacco British American Tobacco p.l.c. ( BAT ) is a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products including electronic cigarettes . The company, established in 1902, is headquartered in London , England. As of 2021, it is the largest tobacco company in
5720-563: The site. Then in 2008, BAT acquired Turkey's state-owned cigarette maker Tekel . In July 2008, BAT acquired the cigarette and snus operations of the Scandinavian Tobacco Group . BAT acquired 60% of Indonesia's Bentoel Group in 2009 before increasing its stake to 100% the following year. In May 2011, BAT acquired the Colombian company Productora Tabacalera de Colombia S.A.S. (Protabaco). In October 2015, BAT acquired
5808-618: The size of some of their shops, using a similar format to its convenience stores. Signage was replaced with the Somerfield brand. On 16 July 2008, it was announced that Somerfield would be acquired by the Co-operative Group for £1.57 billion, subject to approval from the Office of Fair Trading . The build-up to this announcement began in late 2007, when the parent private equity consortium, that had acquired Somerfield in December 2005, put
5896-458: The spread of "extremist views" from fundamentalists in countries such as Afghanistan, the industry would have to "prepare to fight a hurricane". The Nigerian federal government filed a lawsuit against BAT and two other tobacco companies in 2007. Nigeria sought $ 42.4 billion, $ 34.4 billion of which the government seeks in anticipation of the future cost of treating Nigerians for tobacco-related illnesses. It also sought $ 1.04 billion as
5984-442: The store - simply changing the signage and uniforms would have risked dragging the carefully developed Somerfield brand downmarket. Instead, the larger Kwik Save stores were converted, some were sold or closed and the chain became a trading division of Somerfield Stores Ltd, sharing its supply chain and back office systems with Somerfield. For some years, the own brand products in Kwik Save stores were Somerfield, although this policy
6072-592: The subject of the largest class action lawsuit in Canadian history. The case started on 12 March 2012 in Quebec Superior Court , and the companies face a potential payout of C$ 27 billion (US$ 21.6 billion) in damages and penalties. In addition, a number of Canadian provinces are teaming to sue tobacco companies to recover healthcare costs caused by smoking. On 1 June 2015, Quebec Superior Court Justice Brian Riordan has awarded more than $ 15 billion to Quebec smokers in
6160-416: The supermarket Simon Skinner, played by Timothy Dalton , is a charming but sinister individual. The film includes a gun battle scene in the supermarket between police and staff members in full Somerfield uniforms, and a scene involving hand-to-hand combat. Simon Skinner was also injured after tripping on a miniature Somerfield lorry in a model village, landing on the model church and getting severely injured in
6248-431: The supermarket set modelled and furnished by Somerfield from 1995 to 1997. A store under its Gateway name featured briefly in the 1990 Christmas Special of Only Fools and Horses ("Rodney Come Home"), in which the store can be seen behind the main characters Del Boy and Uncle Albert as they travel up an escalator to reach the top floor of a shopping precinct, so Del Boy can sell a set of dolls that wet themselves and sing
6336-452: The throat. The Somerfield shop also appeared on BBC's Top Gear , during an interview between actor Simon Pegg and host Jeremy Clarkson . The reason the store was chosen was due to the director of the film Edgar Wright having formerly worked at the store. Wright also made an amateur film called Dead Right that had scenes in the same store which is featured on the bonus DVD editions of Hot Fuzz . The gameshow Supermarket Sweep had
6424-536: The title Food Giant . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Food_Giant&oldid=1053891679 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Food Giant (UK retailer) Somerfield ( / ˈ s ʌ m ər f iː l d / SUM -ər-feeld )
6512-470: The trend back towards high-street shopping. The aim was to become the UK's strongest neighbourhood food retailer. Questions remained about whether, at a time of intense competition both from discounters and from the larger chains, Somerfield could generate adequate growth in sales and profits. In 1997, the Somerfield website was launched, which gave customers access to viewing online content such as offers, services and recipes, as well as online shopping via
6600-579: The view that "Mrs Smith in Stockport is more likely to use a handy catalogue from her supermarket than surf the Net in search for Fido's dog food". The operation launched internet ordering in July 1999, and was then rebranded as "Somerfield 24-7". At its peak the home shopping division employed 225 staff and operated from three distribution centres. However, Somerfield suffered large losses in 2000, its home shopping venture
6688-513: The world based on net sales and the third largest seller of vapes in the UK. BAT has operations in around 180 countries and its cigarette brands include Dunhill , Kent , Lucky Strike , Pall Mall and Rothmans . Its brands also include Velo, Vuse and Glo. BAT has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index . It has a secondary listing on
6776-471: Was a chain of small to medium-sized supermarkets operating in the United Kingdom . The business started life in the 19th century as grocers J. H. Mills, and after a series of buyouts and mergers, the company became known as Gateway. A major rebranding to the created Somerfield brand started in 1990, and in 1998 the company purchased the Kwik Save chain of discount food stores. The company was taken over by
6864-574: Was branded the "Wills World Cup" and thereby achieved a high level of brand recognition for the Wills cigarette brand in India where young cricket fans were a key target market. BAT previously sponsored the London Symphony Orchestra . Furthermore, BAT established The British American Tobacco Internship programme which is designed to help new graduates gain experience in their chosen field of study in
6952-495: Was completed in July 2017. In April 2017, the company announced the acquisition of a number of Bulgarian cigarette brands from Bulgartabac for more than €100 million. In March 2021, the company bought a stake of close to 20% in the Canada-based cannabis producer OrganiGram for about £126 million as part of a diversification strategy. In May 2023, the company's chief executive, Jack Bowles, resigned with immediate effect. He
7040-503: Was demerged (Argos was acquired by previous parent company GUS plc in 1998). The Group was a major financial services company with the acquisitions of Eagle Star (1984), Allied Dunbar (1985) and the Farmers Group, Inc. (1988). Around 1996 British American Tobacco merged its financial operations into a single operating unit, British American Financial Services (BAFS). This division merged with Zurich Insurance Company in 1998 to form
7128-414: Was described as an "ill-fated foray", and development was halted that June. John von Spreckelsen, former chief executive of convenience food retailer Budgens , was brought in as chairman in April 2000. The new strategy was to keep Somerfield and Kwik Save as separate businesses, while sharing common services in such areas as information technology and corporate finance. By mid-2002 – halfway through what
7216-527: Was largely a matter of making the best of a very difficult job; the main problem, which had not been solved by the end of the 1980s, was to make some sense of the heterogeneous collection of stores which it had acquired through its numerous takeovers. Somerfield changed its logo in 2002 from a rectangular shape to a more contemporary design and opened several new store formats, including Somerfield Essentials and Somerfield Market Fresh. It further changed its brand image by introducing newer own-brand lines including
7304-500: Was not the case. The supermarket sought to cancel the contract due to its illegality due to deception, but the Court of Appeal ruled in 2012 that the misrepresentations in ParkingEye's process did not justify termination of the contract, noting that earlier action requesting ParkingEye to revise its debt material would have resolved the situation. There was some learning in this case, in that
7392-623: Was replaced by Tadeu Marroco, who had served as finance director for four years. On 14 September 2023, the company announced the sale of BAT Russia to a consortium led by local management. BAT Russia changed its name to the International Tobacco Marketing Services Group. The company offers an extensive range of brands: Global brands include Dunhill , Kent , North State, Lucky Strike , Pall Mall , Vogue , Rothmans International , Winfield , State Express 555 , KOOL , and Viceroy . BAT does not necessarily own
7480-715: Was revealed that 40 Somerfield stores, including many retained Kwik Save branches, had been sold. These stores were mainly under-performing converted Kwik Save stores. In November 2006, the company also sold a further 12 stores to Marks & Spencer to trade under the M&;S Simply Food brand. This deal included stores in Blackheath in south-east London, Broughty Ferry in Dundee , and Petersfield and Alton in Hampshire . Having bought 140 Texaco petrol stations in 2007, Somerfield tripled
7568-409: Was reversed once it was decided to keep the brand. Somerfield's existing Food Giant discount supermarkets were rebranded as Kwik Save. It was clear that more than a hundred Somerfield and Kwik Save stores were within a mile of each other and directly competing: also customers were switching from high street to out of town shopping. Somerfield launched a home shopping pilot in the Bristol area under
7656-406: Was seen as a five-year recovery programme – the company announced a return to the black, and dividends were resumed after a two-year break, although the positioning issues remained unsolved. Somerfield was the product of opportunistic acquisitions, driven more by financial engineering than by any conception of where the company should be positioned. The focus on medium-sized high street supermarkets
7744-539: Was to operate for a minimum of 15 months but was terminated after 6 months, leaving ParkingEye (who had funded the provision of the parking monitoring system) short on revenue due to the curtailed payment period. Somerfield argued that some parts of the ParkingEye process were deceptive, in that in that they stated that customers owed money to ParkingEye when in fact they had breached their agreement on parking duration with Somerfield and their debt lay with Somerfield, and stated that Somerfield would be taking legal action, which
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