London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 15, 2025

Waitrose checks out of talks to take stake in Planet Organic

Waitrose checks out of talks to take stake in Planet Organic

Waitrose, part of the John Lewis Partnership, terminated talks about injecting funding into Planet Organic late last week.
Waitrose, the upmarket supermarket chain, has called off secret talks about a deal that would have involved it taking a stake in Planet Organic, its smaller rival grocer.

Sky News has learnt that Waitrose, part of the struggling John Lewis Partnership, terminated discussions late last week about an agreement.

Retail industry sources said a deal would have seen Waitrose inject millions of pounds into Planet Organic in exchange for a significant shareholding.

The abandonment of the previously confidential talks will come as little surprise given the financial pressures facing Waitrose's mutually owned holding company.

This month, The Sunday Times reported that JLP bosses led by chair Dame Sharon White were exploring a move to sell a minority stake to outside investors for the first time.

Such a move is a reflection of its troubled trading performance and the constraints on its existing capital structure.

Its decision to call off the talks with Planet Organic has left the smaller organic supermarket chain seeking alternative sources of funding.

Insiders said it was now in discussions with a number of other strategic and financial investors, and was attempting to stitch together a deal within the next few weeks.

Planet Organic, which was founded in 1995 by Renee Elliot, has been working with Interpath Advisory on a review of its strategic options since early this year.

The chain, which trades from 13 stores, sells organic food and drink, as well as healthcare and bodycare products.

Like many retailers, its recent performance has been hampered by the pandemic and reduced city centre footfall.

It is understood to have been loss-making in each of its last two financial years.

Planet Organic is run by George Dymond, who took over as its chief executive just over a year ago.

A spokesperson for Planet Organic declined to comment on the talks with Waitrose, but said in February in relation to the wider funding process: "We are working closely with our advisors to help us navigate options to secure further investment.

"This additional funding will enable us to support the next phase of our current growth plans."

Earlier this year, Waitrose announced a deal to stock a range of Planet Organic's health and wellbeing products on its website and in up to 50 of its shops.

Mr Dymond said the partnership was "another really significant development here at Planet".

"As a small and agile business, Planet Organic is able to spot trends and bring innovation to market swiftly, something which will play a really key role in this partnership.

James Bailey, Waitrose's executive director, said: "We see Planet as an ideal partner in offering our customers the best in health and wellbeing products while building on our strategy to take Waitrose products to more customers.

"Their ethos on delivering quality for customers, while prioritising suppliers, the planet and our communities aligns perfectly with ours."

A John Lewis Partnership spokeswoman declined to comment on the negotiations with Planet Organic.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
×