Business Diary: June 18

Emma de Vere Hunt, of Knaresborough, who set up BattleBox five years ago as a home-based family business, appeared on the TV programme as part of a task which required the teams to sell to the public at the Motorhome and Caravan Show at Birmingham NEC.

Both teams in the show, which is fronted by Sir Alan Sugar, pitched to secure the kit, with Emma opting for the group led by sub-team leader Jordan Poulton to sell the product.

Emma and her son, Edward, who went down to Birmingham last autumn to film the show, said: “The teams had to select three products from 10 on offer from competing companies.

“Both teams vied for our Dangerous Den Kit which was great, we then had to choose which team we wanted to represent us! It was an exciting experience and great to be featured in the winning team.”

The Dangerous Den Kit (Ultimate) is an all-in-one kit for children to build a den. It includes tough tarpaulin, camo net, sandbags and the Bear Grylls’ Living Wild book.

Since its inception, BattleBox has attracted £200,000 of investment from Jonathan Turner, entrepreneur and chief executive of the Bayford Group.

The group’s investment of time and funding is helping BattleBox to target customers nationally, while orders have come in from as far afield as Hong Kong, South Africa and Australia.

Points of view

Morrisons’ shareholders were out in force and grinding their axes at the supermarket’s annual general meeting on Thursday.

In a question and answer session which lasted over an hour and a half, chairman Sir Ian Gibson dealt with a wide range of complaints ranging from the state of the apples to the cleanliness of its cafes.

“Why the heck are we starting to sell clothing?” asked one.

Others were critical of the deter-iorating quality of Braeburn apples, “scraggy” carrots, and a decision to outsource some accounts work to India.

Addressing shareholders at the end of the interrogation, the chairman said: “Ladies and gentlemen, we still have to get to the formal part of the meeting – as distinct from the entertainment.”

An Italian job

ITALIAN with a Yorkshire twist – that was the brief given to chefs who went head to head in a live cook-off in Leeds, marking the launch of airline Monarch’s new route to Rome from Leeds-Bradford Airport.

The two finalists competed on stage in Millennium Square at the Yorkshire Food & Drink Show, which was backed by the Yorkshire Post and held as part of the annual Leeds Loves Food festival, for a chance to win flights to the city of Rome.

The demonstration saw Leeds-based Italian restaurants Salvo’s and Casa Mia battle it out to impress the judges.

Leeds-based wine merchant Italyabroad.com matched fine Italian wine to the dishes.

Salvo’s triumphed, dazzling the judges with their Yorkshire-grown stuffed courgette flowers. Gip Dammone, who runs the restaurant with his brother John, created the dish and cooked it on stage with his son Salvo – named after his grandfather who set up Salvo’s in Headingley 37 years ago.

The judging panel included Andy Allen, advertising director at the West Yorkshire publishing unit of Johnston Press, the group behind the Yorkshire Post, Russell Ison, head of PR and communications at Monarch Airlines, which provided the winning restaurant with flights to Rome, and Andrea D’Ercole, managing director of Italyabroad.com.

Gip said: “We fly to Italy regularly on buying and dining trips with our staff so Monarch’s Leeds Bradford-Rome route is so convenient for us.”

Taste of Yorkshire

YORKSHIRE has plenty of household names among its corporate brands, and some of the brightest and best are heading to Skipton to celebrate Yorkshire Day on August 1.

Yorkshire Tea, Seabrook Crisps, Skipton Building Society, Copper Dragon Brewery and family chocolatiers Whitakers are taking part in the festival, which is organised by the Yorkshire Society.

Society chairman Keith Madeley told Diary: “Their support demonstrates the warmth and generosity that Yorkshire is known for. All were more than happy to support us and pledge products or special editions to give out to people attending our Skipton events.”

Skipton Town Council has got behind the celebration, with a four-day cultural festival including street parties, opera and brass bands.