Steve Robinson joins M and M Direct as chief executive following the sale of the business by its management and ECI Partners to TA Associates for an estimated £90 million. Robinson was previously chief executive of Tesco Direct and replaces Mike Tomkins who has run the business since 2004.

Piper, the private equity group, has sold its 5 per cent stake in high growth, niche fashion business Boden to existing shareholders. Piper has been an investor since 1999 and has seen the business develop from £20 million to £150 million annual sales.

No sooner had the news broken that the Suttons Seeds business was being marketed by its French owners, when came word that Thompson & Morgan (ECMOD Award Winner earlier this year) was likely to be next. KPMG is conducting a strategic review on behalf of Primary Capital which backed the 2002 MBO of the business which was led by John May. Pundits are suggesting a market valuation of £30 million for the business which sells both seeds and young plants direct and via specialist retailers.

Poor summer weather which affected its gardening division combined with the disruption caused by the recent postal strikes prompted Flying Brands to issue a profits warning last week. Flying Brands was not the only business to suffer reduced demand in the wake of the CWU strike actions. Smaller businesses have been particularly hard hit, finding themselves unable to secure alternative services at comparable rates and many of the season’s bulk catalogue mailings have yet to be delivered with some running at least four weeks late according to mailers.

Woolworths has launched a micro-site to drive awareness of the 7000 product lines in the 2007 edition of its Big Red Book. The site features a live web competition event as well as a store finder and prize draw.