No one in this office is going to be taking the slightest pleasure at today's trading results from Tesco. No, you won't catch us high-fiving, fist-bumping or gloating gleefully at a tepid performance ... read more

2011 will be remembered as a tough year for business but looking back through the pages of Wholesale News it’s clear that whatever the odds, our wholesale members have innovated and improved their service to retail and catering customers, ... read more

Word has it that there's some sort of event in London next year where gold medals will be handed out to winners in various categories. We're clearly ahead of the trend as our own Gold Medal awards took place in London last week, and a great night out it ... read more

We're in the middle of a run of events at the moment - a series of gatherings at which our members are sharing information, promoting the work they do, and celebrating the success of the year's highest achievers in our industry.

Later this month a small but significant gathering will take place on the terrace of the House of Commons, overlooking the Thames. It’s a ... read more

This week's guest blogger is Philip Jenkins, Managing Director of Sugro UK

Clone town is a global ... read more

In March this year the team at Nisa Local in Broadway, Worcestershire became the first ever winners of the My Shop is Your Shop Gold Award for Community Retailing and set the ball rolling for a busy summer for us here at the ... read more

The legitimate wholesaler’s nemesis, alcohol duty fraud, is never far away from the headlines and this month it’s back again, with the industry rife with rumours that HM Revenue and ... read more

This week's guest blogger is Landmark Wholesale managing director Martin Williams

  Over the last few years, the face of UK wholesalers serving the independent foodservice and grocery markets has changed dramatically.  Wholesaling ... read more

 Our political contacts in Westminster have packed their bags for the beach this week and that means FWD's public affairs agenda goes to the back burner for the summer. Unfortunately the issues that face our members don't take the ... read more

 There's less than a week to go until our new-look conference in London. It's a packed 12 hour session at the Hotel Russell in Bloomsbury, with top-notch industry speakers, new insight from customers, and a couple of special ... read more

 The sun shone on National Independents Week earlier this month and it was great to see support for independent retailers coming from all quarters. As well as MPs dropping in to visit stores that really know how to engage with ... read more

So here it is, National Independents Week. Stores around the country have already received their goody bags of My Shop is Your Shop-branded t-shirts, our Little Book of Big Ideas, and for the 200 chosen as the MSYS Gold ... read more

 Hands up who remembers the last time we worked a five day week? For us desk jockeys it seems like months since we didn't have some kind of national holiday breaking up the weekly grind.

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FWD Chairman Chris Etherington is this week's guest blogger

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When Chancellor George Osborne announced that his Budget was intended to “fuel growth,” his choice of words revealed just how much emphasis the Government was putting on the drop in fuel ... read more

 Only a week to go before the Budget, and the clamour for Chancellor George Osborne to reject the planned 1p increase in fuel duty – a measure put in place by the previous Government – is coming from all sides. ... read more

We like to think of ourselves as an optimistic bunch here at FWD, but even in our wildest dreams we wouldn’t expect that when Chancellor George Osborne opens his briefcase at the despatch box on March 23, our Budget ... read more

It’s been an interesting week for those of us who believe that the best way to give consumers controlled access to alcohol is through a responsible supply chain, and would like to see stronger Government recognition of ... read more

For the last seven years the My Shop is Your Shop campaign has set out to persuade retailers to stand up and shout about all the great things they do to support the neighbourhoods they serve. That community role is something that ... read more

I attended my first FWD conference several years ago, as a green young reporter for a trade magazine. It was preceded by a long and lavish dinner the night before, and I remember noticing that by midway through the morning ... read more

As you emerge from Westminster Underground station Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament loom above you and Portcullis House, where many MPs have their offices, is behind you. Round the corner to your left are Whitehall and the Ministries and of course Downing Street. It’s the centre of government ... read more

It's the first day back in the office, and there's just time to take stock of the past year's activity before we knuckle down to business for 2011. Looking back at 2010, we can be proud of what the FWD has achieved. Our core focus remains promoting and protecting members’ business interests ... read more

The British like to think they live in a sub-tropical climate and that’s probably why we’re always surprised by the first snows of the year. But while it seems that the recent blizzards caught the authorities on the hop, our members, at least, were prepared. We’ve heard some heartening ... read more

You'll forgive me if I'm a tiny bit jaded this morning. It's not every day you get to spend an evening with the the cream of the wholesale industry at one of the world's most opulent hotels, and I think it's fair to say that several of us made the most of the opportunity. Our Gold Medal ... read more

You’re never quite sure what you’re going to get at an industry conference. There’s always the fear that one of the speakers will turn their twenty minutes in the spotlight into a long commercial break for their own company, or bludgeon the delegates into submission with endless charts and tables ... read more

Sometimes you get a piece of news that makes you want to pull your shirt over your head and career across the office before sliding on your knees into the corner with your fists pumping, and shout “Gooooaaal!” Fortunately we’re not like that at the FWD, so this week’s news that Chancellor ... read more

 For political junkies, in the ranks of which I include myself, the last few weeks have been of almost unprecedented interest. The results of the election and the wholly unexpected coalition government which it produced have been pored over in minute detail by all sections of ... read more