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Booker Group Limited is a British food wholesale operator and subsidiary of
Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...
. In January 2017, it was announced that the British multinational supermarket retailer Tesco had agreed to purchase the company for £3.7 billion. It was confirmed on 5 March 2018 that Tesco had completed its acquisition of Booker.


History


Origins

The company was founded by George and Richard Booker in 1835, when they bought their first ship and established the Booker Line, which focused on shipping goods. It later diversified into the distribution of goods, and gradually disposed of its fleet of ships. With a new focus on wholesale food distribution, the company had over 100 warehouses across the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
by 1978, and was trading as Booker McConnell Ltd. Among other interests, it operated the sugar industry in
Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...
(
British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...
before independence in 1966), running five Booker Line ships, until it was nationalised around 1970. After six months, Booker was called back to market the sugar. Booker had a long history of exploitation of sugar workers through the
indentured labour Indentured servitude is a form of labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract, called an "indenture", may be entered "voluntarily" for purported eventual compensation or debt repayment, ...
system during the 19th and 20th centuries (outright slavery was abolished in British Guiana before Booker's founding, but exploitative labour practices continued. All of the Booker brothers had claimed and received 'compensation' payments for their post 1815 Guiana slave holdings - see U.C.L. "Legacies of British Slave-ownership" index). At its peak, it controlled 75% of the sugar industry in British Guiana and was so powerful that a common joke was to refer to the country as "Booker's Guiana". In 1952, Jock Campbell took over the chairmanship of the company and his Fabian social politics transformed it dramatically into a benevolent force providing major benefits for sugar workers. Jock Campbell was also instrumental in the setting up of Booker's Author Division, which sponsored the
Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a Literary award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...
.


Expansion

In 1986, the company set up a short lived co venture between the directors of
Siriol Animation Calon (Welsh for 'heart') is the trading name of Mount Stuart Media Ltd., a British animation television production company based in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, which primarily produced animation series in Welsh for S4C. The company was f ...
to create Kalisto. Kalisto also developed a show called ''Space Baby'' (which eventually became ''
Fantastic Max ''Fantastic Max'' is an animated cartoon series, originally aired from 1988 to 1990 created by Hanna-Barbera Productions, Kalisto Ltd., Booker PLC and Tanaka Promotion Co. and in association with S4C. It centers on a boy named Maxwell "Fantastic ...
''), along with another series called ''
Satellite City Satellite cities or satellite towns are smaller municipalities that are adjacent to a principal city which is the core of a metropolitan area. They differ from mere suburbs, subdivisions and especially bedroom communities in that they have mun ...
'' (which was co produced with
Fairwater Films Fairwater Films is a British animation studio based in Cardiff. Notable staff * Tony Barnes (producer, director, screenwriter) * James Driscoll (executive producer, screenwriter) Selected filmography * '' Hanner Dwsin'' (1985) * ''The Shoe Pe ...
) and the animated film ''
The Little Engine That Could ''The Little Engine That Could'' is an American folktale (existing in the form of several illustrated children's books and films) that became widely known in the United States after publication in 1930 by Platt & Munk. The story is used to teach ...
''. Kalisto barely lasted a year before Booker bought the rights back. In November 1996, Booker bought Nurdin & Peacock, taking ownership of the convenience store operator and brand
Happy Shopper Happy Shopper is a British brand of independent convenience products and wholesale foods and goods. The brand was originally owned by cash and carry company Nurdin and Peacock, who were subsequently acquired by Booker Group in November 1996. ...
. Happy Shopper's products are sold by Booker to independent
convenience store A convenience store, convenience shop, corner store or corner shop is a small retail business that stocks a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, snack foods, confectionery, soft drinks, ice creams, tobacco products, lottery ticket ...
s and off licences. In 2000, the brand's logo of a smiling face with blonde hair was dropped from products and packaging, as part of a redesign by Partners In Communication, a design consultant company. In May 2000, Booker was purchased by Iceland Supermarkets, via its Big Food Group vehicle. Then, in December 2004, Big Food Group was in turn bought by acquisitive Icelandic group, Baugur, which split Booker and Iceland again into different companies. In June 2007, Booker reversed into an AIM listed wholesaler of groceries Blueheath, to form Booker Group plc. Baugur sold all its assets in Booker Cash & Carry in June 2008, only weeks after its founder was found guilty of accounting irregularities. Baugur collapsed in February 2009, amidst the
Icelandic financial crisis Icelandic refers to anything of, from, or related to Iceland and may refer to: *Icelandic people *Icelandic language *Icelandic alphabet * Icelandic cuisine See also * Icelander (disambiguation) * Icelandic Airlines, a predecessor of Icelandai ...
. In September 2009, Booker opened a store in
Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
and planned to expand its cash and carry stores across India. In May 2012,
Metro Group Metro AG is a German multinational company based in Düsseldorf which operates business membership only cash and carry stores primarily under the Metro brand. Until 2020 it was also active in general retail business through Real division, wh ...
sold the thirty stores of
Makro Makro is a Dutch international brand of warehouse clubs, also called cash and carry stores. Makro was founded by SHV Holdings, a Dutch conglomerate based in Utrecht in partnership with German company Metro AG, with the first warehouse club ...
in the United Kingdom and all operational assets to Booker Group Plc, in return for 9.99% of Booker's share capital, plus £15.8 million in cash; although the merger was referred to the
Office of Fair Trading The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) was a non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforced both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the United Kingdom's economic ...
it was cleared by the
Competition Commission The Competition Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under competition law in the United Kingdom. It was a competition regulator under t ...
in April 2013. In May 2015, Booker Group confirmed it had reached an agreement with
Musgrave Group Musgrave Group Ltd. is an Irish food wholesaler, founded in Cork by the Musgrave brothers, Thomas and Stuart in 1876. It is currently Ireland's largest grocery distributor, with operations in Ireland and Spain with estimated annual sales of ove ...
to buy the
Budgens Budgens Stores Ltd, trading as Budgens, is a chain of grocery stores in the United Kingdom. The business was founded in 1872 by John Budgen, who opened the first shop in Maidenhead, Berkshire and was incorporated as a private limited company o ...
and Londis grocery chains, for £40 million. In January 2017,
Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...
announced that it had reached an agreement to merge with Booker Group for £3.7 billion, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. It was confirmed on 5 March 2018 that Tesco had completed its merger with Booker.


Operations

The company supplies approximately 1.5 million businesses across the United Kingdom, through its different divisions. It operates cash and carry branches throughout the United Kingdom (as well as a few in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
) and operates a national delivery service in the United Kingdom. The industry journal ''The Grocer'' named Booker the "Green Wholesaler of the Year" at the Grocer Gold Awards. The group consists of several divisions each specialising in different areas of the wholesale market in the United Kingdom:


Booker author's division

The company also founded, and was previously a sponsor of, the
Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a Literary award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...
for literary fiction, which was established in 1968. During The Baron Campbell of Eskan's tenure as chairman of the company, then known as Booker–McConnell, he was also instrumental in the setting up of the Booker's author division. Lord Campbell of Eskan purchased 51 per cent of Glidrose Ltd, which owned the copyrights of his friend
Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., a ...
for £100,000. This purchase was the foundation of the Authors' Division, which also acquired rights to some well known authors' works, such as Georgette Heyer, whose company, Heron Enterprises, with eighteen of her copyrights, Booker bought in 1966 for £80,000,
Dennis Wheatley Dennis Yeats Wheatley (8 January 1897 – 10 November 1977) was a British writer whose prolific output of thrillers and occult novels made him one of the world's best-selling authors from the 1930s through the 1960s. His Gregory Sallust series ...
, and the 64% stake in
Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...
's works not controlled by her family. When, in 1968, Booker established the prestigious Booker Prize, it was with the money from the Fleming, Heyer and Christie purchases. Ironically, not one of these authors would ever have won the Booker Prize for fiction. In June 1998,
Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...
's stakeholding was sold to
Chorion The chorion is the outermost fetal membrane around the embryo in mammals, birds and reptiles (amniotes). It develops from an outer fold on the surface of the yolk sac, which lies outside the zona pellucida (in mammals), known as the vitelline ...
for £10 million, who themselves sold it on in February 2012 to
Acorn Media UK RLJE International Ltd, d/b/a Acorn DVD, a British company that publishes and distributes DVDs, as well as selling home-video products and streaming videos with a particular focus on British television. History Launched in 1997, Acorn Media U. ...
. The division also co founded and sponsored the prestigious Booker–McConnell Prize for literature in 1968, now known as
Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a Literary award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...
. This was transferred to the independent Booker Prize Foundation in 2002, and became sponsored by the
Man Group plc Man Group plc is an active investment management business listed on the London Stock Exchange. It provides a range of funds across liquid and private markets for institutional and private investors globally and is the world's largest publicly t ...
, who opted to retain the well known "Booker" name. Chairmen of the Author's division have included Charles William Tyrell (1960s–1970s), Dennis H. Joss (1970s–1980s) and
Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...
's grandson Caradoc Thomas Prichard (1990s–2000s).


See also

*
Premier Stores Premier is a symbol group in the United Kingdom with over 3,000 stores nationwide. Tesco took ownership of the brand in 2018 after its purchase of Booker Group. Operations All Premier shops are chain-store owned and run by retailers at a perc ...
– Booker convenience store chain *
Euro Shopper Euro Shopper was a discount brand of everyday commodities developed and marketed by AMS Sourcing B.V. It was introduced to the market in 1996, and branded products have been sold by some of the AMS members in different countries in Europe sinc ...
– Product branding across Europe, owned by Booker in the United Kingdom.


References


External links

* {{Authority control Tesco Wholesalers of the United Kingdom Retail companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in Northamptonshire Retail companies established in 1835 West Indies merchants Food and drink companies of the United Kingdom Supermarkets of the United Kingdom British Guiana Economy of Guyana History of sugar Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange 2018 mergers and acquisitions 1835 establishments in the United Kingdom British companies established in 1835 Food and drink companies established in 1835