Marmite maker Unilever agrees $44.8bn deal to combine food arm with McCormick

Unilever has agreed to combine its food business with US-based McCormick in a $44.8bn deal that will give the Marmite-to-Hellmann’s mayonnaise owner majority control of a food empire.The Anglo-Dutch company will control 65% of the new spin-off, which will combine brands such as Knorr and Pot Noodle with McCormick’s condiments and spices including French’s mustard, Old Bay seasoning and Cholula hot sauce.However, the combined company will be called McCormick and led by its executives, with senior management representation from the ranks of Unilever’s food business.Under the agreement, McCormick will pay London-listed Unilever $15

Centuries-old pottery firm Denby set to call in administrators

Denby has called in administrators, putting the 217-year-old Derbyshire pottery at risk of closure with the loss of almost 600 jobs.The company, which was rescued from administration in 2009 by the restructuring experts Hilco and also owns the Burleigh brand, produced by Burgess and Leigh based in Stoke-on-Trent, is understood to have struggled with the surging cost of gas, higher labour costs, tighter financial markets and softening consumer demand for its premium homeware.Earlier this month, Sebastian Lazell, the chief executive of Denby, told BBC News he was “trying to move heaven and earth” to save the business.A #SaveDenby campaign was launched in an attempt to encourage people to buy more products and to lobby the government to provide support.Denby Group said on Tuesday that “the outpouring of support” in response to the campaign had been “overwhelming and deeply moving” but it had been unable to secure “strategic investment partners” to help the business continue

UK parents: what do you think about the government’s advice on screen time for children under five?

Children under five should spend no more than an hour a day on screens and under-twos should not be watching screens alone, according to UK government advice.The guidance was developed by a panel led by the children’s commissioner, Rachel de Souza, and the children’s health expert Prof Russell Viner.Keir Starmer said the guidance would help families keep children safe and ensure they built healthy habits with screens.The prime minister said: “Parenting in a digital world can feel relentless. Screens are everywhere, and the advice is often conflicting

Palantir’s UK boss criticises ‘ideological’ groups as ministers move to scrap NHS contract

Palantir’s UK boss has urged the government not to give in to “ideologically motivated campaigners” as government ministers explore a way out of a £330m NHS contract with the tech company.Ministers have sought advice on triggering a break clause in Palantir’s deal to deliver the Federated Data Platform (FDP), amid questions over the company’s presence in the public sector.The FDP is an AI-enabled data platform designed to connect disparate health information across the NHS, while Palantir also has contracts with the Ministry of Defence, several police forces and the UK’s financial watchdog.Louis Mosley, the executive vice-chair of Palantir in the UK, told the Times the government should resist calls to eject the company from NHS England’s data systems.“Having a review clause in a contract is good and normal practice

A gleaming tribute to Mary Rand’s gold | Brief letters

As a schoolboy, I was fascinated by coverage of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. A few years later, on a family holiday, we visited Wells Cathedral. Outside the grounds lay a gleaming brass strip in the pavement marking the distance that Mary Rand long-jumped to create her world record. A lovely tribute to this remarkable person (Mary Rand, first British woman to win Olympic athletics gold, dies aged 86, 27 March).Anil BhattSunderland Your review of the fourth instalment of Alan Bennett’s diaries, Enough Said (24 March), says he nearly always notes the anniversary of the beginning of his national service: “8/8/52

‘The computer went bananas’: error at O’Brien yard removes horses from 2,000 Guineas

The betting market for the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket on 2 May was thrown into confusion on Tuesday when two significant candidates from the Aidan O’Brien stable, Gstaad and Albert Einstein, were taken out of the race, apparently as the result of an administrative error.The chaos was then compounded later in the day by uncertainty over whether a plan to re-engage both colts if necessary at a cost of £30,000 each might be prohibited by the rules of entry, before the British Horseracing Authority confirmed that supplementary entries would in fact be accepted.Gstaad, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar in November, was priced up on Tuesday morning at around 6‑1 for the first Classic of the season, and seen as potentially the Ballydoyle first string for a race the stable has won a record 10 times.He assumed the role of O’Brien’s No 1 contender after Albert Einstein, the winner of his first two starts as a juvenile in 2025 but unraced beyond May because of injury, finished only sixth of 10 runners on his three‑year‑old debut in a Listed race at the Curragh three days ago.Despite that reverse, however, and a subsequent suggestion that Albert Einstein might revert to sprinting with the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot as an initial target, the colt was still priced up at 20-1 for the 2,000 Guineas and O’Brien intended to confirm both two-year-olds at the latest declaration stage on Tuesday