Sweets go in Northern shake-up

NORTHERN Foods will unveil the sale of its confectionery businesses on Monday at the start of a drive to tidy up the sprawling group after last week's ousting of chief executive Jo Stewart.

Chairman Peter Blackburn, who is taking on the role of chief executive until a new one is found, will announce that Fox's Glacier Mints, Payne's Poppets, Just Brazils and XXX mints are being sold to Big Bear. The group is headed by Paul Wilkinson, formerly with RHM, and John Jackson, who used to work for Hillsdown Holdings.

The sum involved is small - thought to be less than £10 million - and the deal was agreed before Stewart was told to go. But it signals Blackburn's determination that Northern, which is Britain's largest independent foods maker, should concentrate on its core businesses such as speciality breads and ready meals for supermarkets. Northern supplies a third of Marks & Spencer's chilled food.

Blackburn this weekend refused to be drawn on disposals. But it is thought that Northern is looking for buyers for its Batchelors business in Ireland, which produces tinned foods and orange juice, and Holland's pies, based in Lancashire. Northern also has a flour miller and a distribution operation that may go.

Stewart was told that he had to leave after it became clear that Northern would not hit its profit forecasts for the current year. There had already been two profits warnings in the past 18 months.

The latest warning and the announcement of Stewart's departure-came last Thursday. Financial Mail reported in February that Northern was coming under pressure from leading investors over its failure to translate increased sales into higher profits. At that stage, one large investor had asked for a meeting with Blackburn without Northern's executive managers so they could speak candidly about their worries.

Following that report, Blackburn held a series of one-to-one meetings with key investors. Headhunter Whitehead Mann has been appointed to find a new chief executive.