36-561: The Nero Book Awards are British literary awards, inaugurated in 2023. They are run by coffeehouse chain Caffè Nero in partnership with the Booksellers' Association , Brunel University London and Right To Dream, "a football community dedicated to expanding people's understanding of excellence through football". The awards are made in four categories: children's fiction, fiction, debut fiction, and non-fiction. A short list of four
72-624: A Blackburn -based operator of filling stations , convenience stores and food service providers across Europe, the United States and Australia. In October 2020, as part of a consortium with TDR Capital , the brothers became majority stakeholders in the British supermarket chain Asda . From August 2021 to September 2024, Mohsin served as Asda's chief executive. Since September 2024, Mohsin Issa
108-560: A client. Zuber Issa is married to Asma, with the couple having four children. In November 2017, the brothers invested in a £25 million mansion in Knightsbridge , in Central London. In May 2018, it was reported the brothers were planning to construct five identical mansions on Billinge End Road, an exclusive countryside area on the outskirts of Blackburn. This development required the demolition of eight existing homes and
144-456: A consortium of the Issa brothers and private equity firm TDR Capital . In August 2021, Roger Burnley unexpectedly stepped down as Asda's chief executive, with Mohsin operating Asda's day-to-day business going forward. On 19 July 2023, Mohsin appeared before the Commons ' Business and Trade Select Committee , angering committee members, who accused Issa of 'failing to answer questions about
180-679: A firm called Boulder Investco, a private investment fund at backing fast-growing UK start-ups, including Manchester based second-hand clothing website GoThrift. In June 2018, the brothers received Ernst & Young 's 'Entrepreneur of the Year' award. In October 2020, the Issas were each appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the year's Birthday Honours for services to business and charity. Mohsin and Zuber established
216-509: A newsagent chain in busy mall locations in the North-West of England. In 1993, Mohsin co-founded the plastic-packaging firm Europlast alongside older brother Zakir, of which Zuber would become a shareholder in 1998. “When you look at what [the petrol forecourt] business was, kiosked out, Cokes and smokes, you wouldn't buy any food, it would be distress purchase et cetera. We had the vision of actually modernising that, investing in that. It
252-464: A precursor to opportunistically acquiring the company at a later date." In September 2021, the high court dismissed the challenge against the CVA, brought by a landlord with the backing of the Issa brothers, with Mr Justice Green ruling that the company had "acted in good faith, in accordance with their professional duties and reached a perfectly reasonable decision that it was not in the best interests of
288-520: A reduction in overall costs, would enable the company to rebuild its business when the pandemic ended; more than 90% of creditors voted in favour in November 2020. The CVA was approved the day after Caffè Nero confirmed it had rejected an unsolicited takeover approach from the brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa , who are behind the EG Group , stating that they had "clear intention" to disrupt the CVA "as
324-679: A standalone supermarket in Blackburn, called Euro Grocers. In July 2023, the brothers invested £30 million in HVS, a British zero-emission company that is developing a lorry running on hydrogen fuel cells. In October 2024, Mohsin invested £10 million in Applied Nutrition , as it prepared to go public on the London Stock Exchange . In November 2024, it was reported that Mohsin and his partner Victoria Price had launched
360-536: A tennis court. The project, dubbed "McMansions" by the local press, sparked complaints from residents who felt the new buildings were out of place and not in-keeping with the local area. In July 2023, the Sunday Times Rich List valued their combined net worth at £5.05 billion, making them the 40th wealthiest family in the UK. In June 2012, whilst Mohsin and Zuber were both Europlast company directors,
396-660: A worker lost part of his middle finger whilst cleaning a bubblewrap machine at Europlast's plant; the plant had previously been cautioned by the Health and Safety Executive in September 2009 and July 2011 for its health and safety practices. This story was re-established by the media in October 2020 when it was announced the brothers would be majority stakeholders in Asda. Also in October 2020, Mohsin and Zuber came under criticism from
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#1732801198881432-583: Is a coffeehouse company headquartered in London , England, established in 1997 by Gerry Ford . Caffè Nero runs over 1,000 coffee houses in eleven countries: the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Poland, Cyprus, Croatia, Turkey, the UAE, Oman and the United States. In 2009, Caffè Nero bought and opened its own coffee roastery in Battersea, south London, which supplies the coffee to all its coffee houses worldwide. Caffè Nero Ltd
468-513: Is designed to avoid corporation tax." In May 2015, the company said that they would stop serving milk from farms in Gloucestershire 's badger cull areas following threats from animal-rights activists. On 29 May 2015, the company said: "Caffè Nero has instructed its partners supplying to stores which are situated around the cull zone areas to supply milk from farms outside of the zone." On 7 July 2015, rats were videoed scurrying along
504-414: Is drawn up for each category, and category winners are chosen, receiving £5,000. There is then a further selection process before one of the category winners is awarded the £30,000 "Golden Nero" award as "Book of the year". The awards are open to books published in the UK and Ireland, and at the time of entry the author must be alive and have been resident in the UK or Ireland for three years. The criteria for
540-461: Is majority owned through a chain of intermediary companies, including UK-based Nero Group Holdings Ltd and Luxembourg -based Rome Intermediate Holdings Sarl, by Gerry Ford. The company successfully dismissed a hostile takeover attempt during the COVID-19 pandemic . In 1997, Gerry Ford led a small group of investors in the purchase from Ian Semp of five London coffee outlets. At the same time
576-878: Is the sole chief executive of EG Group, and a minority owner and non-executive director of Asda. Zuber Issa owns and runs his separate business, EG On the Move , is a non-executive director of EG Group, and no longer holds ownership in Asda after selling his stake to TDR Capital. Both brothers retain their ownership stakes in EG Group. Mohsin Issa was born in July 1971, and Zuber Issa in June 1972 in Blackburn , Lancashire in North West England into an Indian Gujarati Muslim family to parents Vali and Zubeda who came to
612-399: The Asda acquisition, Mohsin ran the business day-to-day, whilst Zuber was responsible for strategy and acquisitions. In June 2024, it was reported that Zuber was looking to step down from being co-executive officer of EG Group to focus on his separate EG On the Move business. In October 2020, Walmart announced an agreement to sell a majority stake in British supermarket chain Asda to
648-681: The Group expanded further by completing the purchase of the majority shareholding of the 100-strong coffee chain Coffee#1 located in Wales, South West England and the Midlands from SA Brains . The deal gave Caffe Nero a 67% majority stake in the business; in February 2022, Caffe Nero purchased the remaining 33%. In 2019 they partnered with the beverage company Fever-Tree to sell two variations of
684-533: The Issa Foundation in March 2016. In December 2020, their foundation revealed plans to build a mosque in Blackburn on the site of the former Westholme Nursery School; these plans were granted permission in March 2021. In August 2024, the Issa Foundation was hit with enforcement action at the former St. Mary's College building in Blackburn surrounding complaints of loud noise. Mohsin Issa's first marriage
720-586: The UAE in 2009, Poland in 2012, Cyprus in 2013, Ireland and the United States in 2014, Croatia in 2017, Oman in 2018 and Sweden. In 2013, Caffè Nero's coffee was rated best-tasting among five major UK brands by experts at the independent consumer magazine Which? In June 2016, the Caffè Nero Group completed the purchase of the Harris + Hoole business from Tesco, with 43 sites, and in January 2019
756-587: The United Kingdom from Bharuch , Gujarat , India in the 1960s to work in the textile industry , and then ran a petrol station. They were educated at Witton Park Academy . Their childhood was a modest one, growing up in a terraced house in Blackburn. After leaving school, the brothers worked in the clothing industry for a short time. In 1988/90, Zuber, aged around 17 or 18, purchased a news kiosk in Preston called Euro News, which he later expanded into
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#1732801198881792-512: The awards are described as: "Our judges will be asked to choose the books they would most want to press into the hands of friends and family for their quality and readability." For the 2023 awards, announced in 2024 for books published predominantly in 2023, the timeline was: A similar pattern of eligibility and submission dates has been announced for the 2024 awards. Overall winner for each year show in boldface. Category winners indicated by highlighted row. Caff%C3%A8 Nero Caffè Nero
828-414: The beverage espresso and tonic across its outlets. In 2020, like many businesses in the hospitality sector, Caffè Nero suffered from poor trading conditions because of the COVID-19 pandemic . Due to the second lockdown in November 2020, the company proposed entering a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) with its creditors. Ford hoped that successful renegotiation of rent agreements with landlords, and
864-544: The brothers tried to acquire the fashion retailer Topshop , but lost out to ASOS . In 2022, they attempted to acquire pharmacy chain Boots , but its American owners Walgreens decided not to sell it, and took it off the market. In 2023, the brothers emerged as potential bidders for Subway , however it would end up being sold to Roark Capital Group . Attempts to acquire Caffè Nero in the early 2020s were not successful. Since April 2022, Zuber Issa has independently operated
900-418: The creditors to postpone the CVA process". In January 2022, Caffè Nero completed a £330m refinancing to give it a platform for future growth and development as well as the ability to resume its new store-opening programme as the business continued its recovery from the effects of the pandemic. In August 2022, Caffè Nero was awarded a Princess Royal Award For Outstanding Workplace Training in recognition of
936-478: The equity was worth £500 million. In March 2024, Mohsin told the BBC that he was carrying out a "reset" at the grocer, before appointing a chief executive to succeed him. He also denied a rift with Zuber. In June 2024, Zuber Issa announced he will sell his 22.5% stake in Asda to TDR Capital which would make them the majority owner, controlling 67.5% of the company in the third quarter of 2024. In September 2024, it
972-566: The floor and counter in their Donegall Square West unit in Belfast , despite having previously been awarded a four out of five star rating by inspectors from Belfast City Council. Having been notified of the incident, the store was closed for a full investigation and later reopened; the source of the infestation was an adjacent disused building. A 2017 undercover investigation by the BBC programme Watchdog found trace amounts of faecal bacteria in
1008-592: The iced water used for drinks in Caffè Nero, Starbucks and Costa Coffee . It was suggested that the ice was most likely to have been contaminated by being touched by unclean hands. The three major coffee chains said they were taking steps to deal with the matter. Tony Lewis, head of policy at the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, urged caution about the BBC's findings, stating: "The public should not panic about this. You can't generalise from
1044-687: The impact of its workplace leader development courses. In May 2023 it was announced that Caffè Nero would run the Nero Book Awards , annual awards in four categories for books published in Britain or Ireland. In October 2024 Caffè Nero bought Nottingham based Coffee 200° making 200° the fifth brand to join the group. Some of the company's stores have had planning permission controversies or enforcement. In December 2011, councillors in Skipton accused Caffè Nero of "bully-boy tactics" following
1080-436: The opening of a store without the required planning permission. As of 2014 Caffè Nero had not paid any corporation tax in the UK since 2007 on sales of £2 billion and had been subject to criticism, although the BBC reported that "there is no suggestion that Caffe Nero has done anything illegal" and that "Caffe Nero has previously rejected accusations that its complex corporate structure involving various holding companies
1116-418: The signature coffee house blend – Classico – was introduced, and has gone on to receive awards for its quality. The Classico blend is still served in every store today. In March 2001, Caffè Nero joined the London Stock Exchange under the symbol CFN. In early 2007, the company was the subject of a management buy-out by the newly formed Rome Bidco Ltd and taken private. The company expanded to Turkey in 2007,
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1152-595: The small sample size." In June 2018, Polish State Sanitary Inspectorate and media reported 63 adults and 10 children having been poisoned (21 of whom were hospitalized) after eating salmonella -contaminated cakes served in a number of Caffè Neros in Warsaw , Kraków and Wrocław . Mohsin and Zuber Issa Mohsin Issa CBE and Zuber Issa CBE are British-Indian billionaire brothers and businessmen who founded Euro Garages (later renamed EG Group) in 2001,
1188-402: The supermarket’s fuel prices, finances and treatment of staff.' In December 2023, there were initial media reports that Mohsin and Zuber had suffered a falling out, though these reports were criticised by a source close to the brothers. In February 2024, it was reported that Zuber Issa was seeking to sell his 22.5 per cent stake in Asda to focus on other areas of business. It was reported that
1224-613: Was announced that Mohsin Issa would step-down as Asda's chief executive, with Lord Stuart Rose and TDR Capital's Rob Hattrell taking over Mohsin's responsibilities. Through their Monte Group company, the Issa brothers are investors in the sports brand Castore . They also own the Stanley House Hotel & Spa in Lancashire. There is also a development owned on Frontier Park in East Lancashire . In 2021,
1260-728: Was our vision in addressing multiple missions in one convenient location.” —Mohsin Issa speaking to the Business and Trade Select Committee on Tuesday 19 December 2023. Before founding Euro Garages, the Issa brothers took out a lease on a garage, and saved up the money to buy their first petrol station. They co-founded Euro Garages in 2001, with the acquisition of a single petrol station in Bury, Greater Manchester . Euro Garages expanded as oil majors (such as Esso ) offloaded their forecourt sites, with Euro Garages using these acquisitions to expand retail and food convenience offerings. Prior to
1296-481: Was to Shamin, with the couple having a son and a daughter. In January 2024, it was reported that Mohsin Issa was in a relationship with an Ernst & Young partner, which resulted in Ernst & Young removing themselves as Asda's auditors in July 2023. It was later revealed that the partner is Victoria Price, and that the pair first met at an Ernst & Young award ceremony in June 2018, though Price never had Asda as
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