Bob Muir, former chief executive of Booker and one of greats of the grocery trade, passed away last Friday, 5 March, at his home in Windsor, after a long battle with cancer. He was 82.
Bob Muir was a charismatic figure in the grocery industry who transformed the fortunes of Booker Cash and Carry in the early 1980s. He was one of the first leaders in the grocery sector to recognise the growing influence of Asian retailers and was an early supporter of Asian Trader magazine.
Along with Mars Confectionery, Bob Muir and Booker were instrumental in helping to launch the Asian Trader Awards in 1989 to help promote excellence in the sector.
Born in Plymouth in 1939 and educated at Chichester High School for Boys, Bob Muir’s career spanned the full breadth of grocery retail sector. He started out following National Service working at Littlewoods and went on to become a management trainee for Tesco.
He subsequently joined Fine Fare and made his first move into wholesale when he became southern regional director for Alliance Cash & Carry. After that Bob joined Budgett’s Cash & Carry, before being headhunted by (then) BAT-owned International Stores, which subsequently made him Managing Director of their new Mainstop superstores division, which grew to about 20 sites.
In 1983 Barry Skipper asked Bob to revive the ailing Booker Cash & Carry chain, which he did. Then, alongside Tony Noble, he engineered the integration of Booker with rival Linfood Cash and Carry, which was completed in 1988.
In 1992 Adrian Busby arrived to take over Booker’s UK operations and Bob then concentrated on the overseas business, continuing until his retirement, as CEO, in late 1998.
He was a great friend and colleague of Asian Media Group founder Ramniklal Solanki, whose sons, Kalpesh and Shailesh Solanki, said Bob was “a huge figure in the grocery industry who was strong advocate and friend of the Asian retail community. Bob helped our father establish the Asian Trader Awards which have grown to be one of the leading events in the industry calendar.
“It was Bob’s foresight to help celebrate the success of Asian retailers in those early days and to also help bring about better understanding of the sector. We send our sincere condolences to his wife Doreen and their family.”
Under the direction of keen Europhile Muir, Booker established cash and carry warehouses in several countries including Spain (where he loved to vacation on the Costa del Sol near Marbella) and Portugal. In 2009, appropriately given his long-time support of the UK’s South Asians, Booker’s first cash and carry opened in Mumbai. “Bob was a great mentor to so many of us over the years at Booker,” said Zunaid Bangee, MD of Booker India.
Former Booker CEO Charles Wilson paid fulsome tribute to the man he said was “larger than life” in many ways, adding that “He supported many ‘Asian traders’ as they started in business. If people had a problem he was keen to lend a hand.”
Bob was a keen cricket and rugby fan and he also enjoyed fishing in Scotland. He was a big man (literally) but also possessed humour and humility. “Soon after I was appointed Operations Director of International, doing my initial branch visits,” he once recalled, “I went into the International in Torquay and tore the place to pieces for bad standards, only to find as I walked out that I was not in International, I was in one of its competitors!”
Bob’s passing is a great loss to the industry and particularly to Asian Trader. He will be sorely missed, and our deepest sympathies go to his wife, Doreen and his family.
Charles Wilson (former CEO of Booker Group) pays tribute to Bob Muir:
Bob Muir was larger than life in three ways.
First, his presence. Bob was tall, had brilliant white hair, a keen smile and was full of energy. He could stride from one end of a cash and carry to the other in a few seconds. His happy, booming, voice could raise the spirits of a team. He had done National Service after leaving school and had the spirit of a hearty admiral.
Second, his impact. Bob joined Booker Cash and Carry in 1983 after a successful career in retail. He knocked the business into shape, completed the acquisition of Linfood and launched the Family Shopper own label. He led Booker to become the largest cash-and-carry operator in the UK and then in 1992 he took the business overseas. He had a profound impact on thousands of Booker Cash and Carry colleagues and customers. When he retired in 1998 he was sorely missed by Booker and the trade.
Third was his big heart. Bob had a deep respect for all colleagues and customers. He supported many 'Asian traders' as they started in business. If people had a problem he was keen to lend a hand.
I did not have the privilege of working with Bob, but I walked cash and carries with him and I knew I was in the presence of a master. His passing will be terrible for his wife Doreen and family. Booker is profoundly grateful for the contribution Bob made and extend our sincere condolences to his family.
A tribute from Dave Boner, who went from Assistant Manager at Linfood to Regional Director of S.E Asia:
Working alongside Bob was simply a privilege. He will always be referenced for his sheer size but there was so much more to his stature. He had vision, direction, endeavour, capacity and compassion in equal volume. Like any leader he was demanding and did not suffer fools but he had a style such that all you needed was, the knowing tilt of the head, raise of an eyebrow or cheeky smile and wink to pull back or push on.
He was an attentive listener and considered in his responses and feedback. Bob was the epitome of engagement. When walking a cash and carry it could take far longer than scheduled as Bob would be chatting with staff and customers for an eternity. In a formal setting he was the same and there was more than one occasion when I wondered if Bob enjoyed cold food as he ate in-between conversations!
Bob’s vision for the Cash & Carry sector was legendary. From the integration of Linfood with Booker (and it truly was a balanced integration) to International expansion and involvement with people such as Ram Solanki (without whom this article may not have been published today).
My relationship with Bob was at its closest throughout the period of international expansion. It was in this environment that I was truly inspired by a real cultural awareness and sensitivity. From Western Europe to Eastern Europe and South Asia to South East Asia Bob was, for want of a better phrase and in addition to all the attributes previously mentioned, “the relationship glue-stick”.
Bob touched the lives of so many people and their families and it is on this note that I offer my Sincere condolences to, Doreen, Deborah and the entire Muir family. Bob will be sorely missed but so fondly remembered by many. Go with grace Bob and rest in peace.
Local shops will face significant new pressures as a result of today’s Budget, the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has warned.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves' budget's impact will be felt unevenly across the UK’s 50,000 convenience stores, with some measures such as business rate relief and the increased employment allowance mitigating costs for smaller independent stores, while providing no help for chains and larger independent businesses.
The key measures for local shops announced by the Chancellor, and the costs for local shops associated with them, are:
National Living Wage to increase to £12.21 per hour
National Minimum Wage (18-20 rate) to increase to £10 per hour
Cost to the convenience sector next year: £7.739bn (increase of £513m)
Employers’ National Insurance Contributions to rise to 15 per cent
Threshold for Employers’ National Insurance contributions to fall to £5,000 per year
Employment Allowance to rise to £10,500 a year
Cost to the convenience sector next year: £397m (increase of £85m)
Retail and hospitality rate relief reduced from 75 per cent to 40 per cent
Small business multiplier frozen for 2025/26
Cost to the convenience sector: £267m (increase of £68m)
Total cost of main announcements (year-on-year difference): £666m
ACS Chief Executive James Lowman said: “The cold hard facts are that the measures announced in the past 24 hours have added two-thirds of a billion pounds to the direct cost base of the UK’s local shops. At a time when trade is tough and operating costs are stubbornly high, this will be challenging for our members to absorb and there will be some casualties on high streets and in villages and estates across the country.
“Not all shops will be impacted the same. The smallest retailers, with low NICs bills and lower rateable values for their shops, will benefit from the welcome increase in the employment allowance and the retention of 40% of the retail, hospitality and leisure business rates relief. Retailers with a larger store, a number of sites or those operating a chain will receive limited benefit from these mitigations, and this will impact their ability to invest and to continue to offer services in the communities they serve.
The following additional measures were announced by the Chancellor in the Budget speech today:
Flat rate levy on vaping liquids from October 2026 of £2.20 per 10ml
Fuel duty frozen and the 5p cut extended for another year
A new commitment to tackling shop theft and funding directed to tackling organised gangs
Lowman continued: “The Chancellor’s commitment to tackling shop theft will be warmly welcomed by our members, but they are interested only in action and in crime against their stores and their colleagues being tackled effectively. We stand ready to help implement a new, and better-funded strategy to stop shop theft, abuse and violence against our members.”
Parliament is to launch an inquiry into delays in compensation settlements for sub postmasters affected by the Horizon scandal.
The newly-formed Business and Trade Select Committee will call ministers, subpostmasters and their lawyers to give evidence next week with a second session to follow in mid-November. The Committee’s chair, Liam Byrne MP told ITV News that there was “definitely a delay” in people coming forward for payment.
“What we’re hearing from subpostmasters is that if there is an argument about how much should be paid out, the first offer is made quite quickly but if there’s a negotiation, that negotiation is dragging.
“We on the committee are going to batter away at this, week in, week out, until it is job done. All of us on our committee are frankly horrified and outraged by how long this has taken and we’re just not going to give up, ” he said.
Sir Alan Bates, the Post Office campaigner and chair of the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance, is expected to be invited to give evidence. Earlier this month, Sir Alan states that his own claim had not been addressed and that he had written to prime minister Sir Keir Starmer asking for his intervention.
“Like many of the groups, my claim has not been completed. It’s ridiculous. I am one of just many in this position. This is why I wrote to the Prime Minister at the start of October, asking that he instruct the department to ensure that all claims – and I’m talking about in the GLO group, the original 555 – have been completed by March next year," he said.
This comes weeks after the Post Office's outgoing CEO agreed the government is using the company as a "shield" over compensation schemes. Nick Read, who resigned last month, was giving evidence at the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry for the second day, with a focus on delays to victims' financial redress.
He also admitted that the compensation process has been "overly bureaucratic" and expressed "deep regret" that the Post Office had not lived up to delivering "speedy and fair redress".
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Bacup Wine and Convenience shop, 34 Burnley Road, Bacup.
A Rossendale shop has had a licence bid rejected after repeatedly selling vapes to children and having illegal products on its premises.
Management at the Ibra Superstore at 34 Burnley Road, Bacup, have shown ‘no regard’ for children’s protection and safety, and have insufficient controls for licensing, Rossendale councillors have ruled.
Ibrahim Mohammad, director of the Ibra Superstore, had recently applied to Rossendale Council for a new premises licence. But the borough’s licensing sub-committee rejected his bid after a meeting which heard allegations from the police and trading standards officers.
The Burnley Road shop has been subject to various licensing changes and concerns in recent years. In the past, it was called Bacup Wines.
Ibrahim Mohammad, the applicant, attended the Rossendale licensing sub-committe meeting with his father,Amin Mohammad. Also there was PC Mick Jones, of Lancashire Constabulary, and Jason Middleton of Lancashire Trading Standards. Councillor Bob Bauld attended as an observer.
Mr Mohammad wanted a premises license for alcohol sales and opening hours from 8am to 11pm, seven days a week. He already had a personal licence. He said the Bacup shop would install a CCTV system, keep an incident log and a refusals record, check customers’ ages, display information about staff and give them regular training.
Trading standards officer Jason Middleton said Ibra Superstore Ltd was incorporated as a company in April 2023. Since then, trading standards had received 11 complaints about under-age sales and carried out visits.
Breaches included non-compliant vapes being found which broke a 2ml limit on the quantity of nicotine-containing liquid, no age checks and no information on display.
During one visit, Amin Mohammad tried to leave with a bag containing 10 illegal vapes. In test purchases by trading standards, an ‘Elf Bar’ vape was sold to a 14-year-old by Amin Mohammad and an illegal Hayati Pro Max vape to a 13-year-old by Ibrahim Mohammad. The shop claimed a phone call distracted staff during the 13-year-old’s purchase and illegal vapes came from ‘a man in car’.
Councillors heard different speakers, looked at written reports and also some video footage from the applicant. But they rejected the premises licence bid.
Giving their reasons, they stated: “There was a repeated history and pattern of behaviour regarding under-age sales of age-restricted items, such as tobacco products and vapes to children. You must not sell vapes to anyone under the age of 18. This is a criminal offence which the council takes very seriously.
“It is clear you breached the law by failing a test purchase operation in which you sold an illegal vape to an under-age child. The sub-committee feels that you have no regard to the protection and safety of children.
“The sub-committee feels that there is insufficient management control at the premises. There is no credible system to prevent under-age sales of age-restricted products and no measures in place to avoid harm to children and to prevent crime and disorder
“Therefore, given the number of incidents, the circumstances surrounding the incidents and the fact that the matter involves safeguarding issues relating to young, vulnerable minors, we consider that the seriousness of the incidents and the crimes committed against young children undermines the licensing objectives to prevent crime and disorder, and protect children from harm.”
The shop has the right of appeal to a magistrates court within 21 days of the date of the notice.
SPAR North of England retailer Dara Singh Randhawa’s family store has been awarded £100,000 of free stock after hitting all his targets since moving to the symbol.
Dara and his family, who have their SPAR store in Patrington in the East Riding of Yorkshire, joined SPAR through its association with James Hall & Co. Ltd in August 2023 having taken the decision to maximise the store’s potential.
It is a decision they have not looked back on, with sales increasing by up to 25% and margins also showing significant uplift in the last 12 months.
Key to the store’s improved performance is the complete overhaul of products available in-store, particularly the fresh food range, to better support people who live in Patrington and the surrounding area.
A new store layout and refrigeration, better Food To Go and meal deal options, a coffee machine, and a Calippo slush machine were also installed during a major refurbishment prior to launch.
Dara said: “Our move to SPAR has been excellent. We have seen fantastic sales uplift and the support from the team at James Hall & Co. Ltd has been brilliant. The £100,000 of free stock is the cherry on the cake.
“We have been very impressed with the Price Locked promotions, in particular. These give customers confidence to do bigger shops with us as they see value on our shelves and the products at the same prices for longer.
“At times over the summer when tourists and visitors to the area add trade, we have seen sales £6,000 a week higher than our average. This is against a backdrop of the popular caravan park in the village being closed almost all year.
“We are really pleased with the position we are in, and we will be looking to achieve more in 2025.”
Peter Dodding, Sales Director at James Hall & Co. Ltd and Chairman of the SPAR Northern Guild, said: “Congratulations to Dara and the Randhawa family on hitting their targets and earning £100,000 of free stock.
“We recognise switching brand is a big decision for a retailer which is why this isn’t a gimmick, and we offer this to all retailers who join the SPAR family with James Hall & Co. Ltd.
“As well as our £100,000 incentive, we also offer retailers the chance to achieve up to an additional £5,000 of free stock if they successfully refer a friend.
“These opportunities provide additional motivation to retailers alongside the comprehensive benefits that joining the SPAR brand brings with it.”
James Hall & Co. Ltd is a fifth-generation family business which serves a network of independent SPAR retailers and company-owned SPAR stores across Northern England six days a week from its base at Bowland View in Preston.
The government has on Wednesday announced its acceptance of the Low Pay Commission’s (LPC) recommendations on the rates of the National Minimum Wage (NMW), including the National Living Wage (NLW).
The rates which will apply from 1 April 2025 are as follows:
NMW Rate
Increase (£)
Percentage increase
National Living Wage (21 and over)
£12.21
£0.77
6.7
18-20 Year Old Rate
£10.00
£1.40
16.3
16-17 Year Old Rate
£7.55
£1.15
18.0
Apprentice Rate
£7.55
£1.15
18.0
Accommodation Offset
£10.66
£0.67
6.7
The recommended NLW rate is expected to equal two-thirds of median earnings and to have the highest real value in the history of the UK’s minimum wage. The increase in the 18-20 Year Old Rate narrows the gap between that and the NLW, in anticipation of the adult rate being extended to 18 year olds in future years.
“The government have been clear about their ambitions for the National Minimum Wage and its importance in supporting workers’ living standards. At the same time, employers have had to deal with the adult rate rising over 20 per cent in two years, and the challenges that has created alongside other pressures to their cost base,” Baroness Philippa Stroud, chair of the LPC, said.
“It is our job to balance these considerations, ensuring the NLW provides a fair wage for the lowest-paid workers while taking account of economic factors. These rates secure a real-terms pay increase for the lowest-paid workers. Young workers will see substantial increases in their pay floor, making up some of the ground lost against the adult rate over time.”
Stroud admitted that the data show some signs of employers finding it harder to adapt to minimum wage increases.
“The tightening of the labour market since the pandemic has unwound, but the overall picture is similar to 2019. The economy is expected to grow over the next year, although productivity growth remains subdued,” she noted.
Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said:
Good work and fair wages are in the interest of British business as much as British workers. This government is changing people’s lives for the better because we know that investing in the workforce leads to better productivity, better resilience and ultimately a stronger economy primed for growth.
The recommended increase in the 16-17 Year Old Rate restores that rate to its original value relative to the adult minimum wage. In line with previous recommendations, the Apprentice Rate will remain equal to the 16-17 Year Old Rate.